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September 01, 2005

Repealing the Laws of Economics

The supply of gasoline has been restricted by the hurricane, but the demand has not changed (or perhaps has even increased). Therefore, the natural result is for the price to increase.

Fortunately, our Dear Leader is going to repeal the laws of economics to "protect" us from eeeeevil oil companies:

President Bush warned against price-gouging of gasoline Thursday in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and said looters should be treated with zero tolerance.

"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this, whether it be looting, or price-gouging at the gasoline pump or taking advantage of charitable giving, or insurance fraud," Bush said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."

However, the president also "said Americans should conserve more gasoline in response to the crisis."

Well, now, Mr. President, if you force the price of gasoline below the market level, people are going to buy more gas than they would if the price were allowed to rise naturally. Thus, by attempting to repeal the law of supply and demand, you are exacerbating the problem, making shortages even more likely than they otherwise would be.

Thank goodness we have a conservative in the White House! Imagine what a liberal president might do.

Posted by Mike Tennant at September 1, 2005 09:40 AM

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