April 28, 2008

Oil Prices Rising

The price of oil keeps on getting higher. What should be done about it?

What is there that we can do about it?

Consider that the prices of many commodities continue to rise, and yet no one complains about it. Candy has become vastly more expensive over the past century, going from candy which could be had for a penny to candy which often costs at least 60 times that amount. Yet no one expects the government to have any control over it.

Perhaps candy is a poor example. It is after all, a luxury, and nowadays almost as suspect as those vile engines of evil, cigarettes. Besides which, I didn't properly index for inflation. But then, I doubt any of us are indexing for inflation when we're watching the gasoline pump suction money out of our pockets.

So let us look at another example. How about cars? Cars themselves have also increased in price over the last century as well, yet no one raises a hue and cry about it. Indeed, to own an expensive car is a status symbol in our society.

Why then, do we expect the government to have control over how much gasoline costs? Did our government spend the money to find and drill for the oil? Why, then should the government decide how much it should be sold for?

Everyone expects that they know how much something ought to cost. But how do we know that? We know because we know the market. We know how much it costs down the street, how much it cost this same time last year, and local factors that influence the price. But we can't expect to know that for everywhere in the nation. Indeed, how could any one person know what the best price for gasoline is all over the nation? When one considers how big our nation is, and the many people who buy gasoline, the idea of a committee or department or computer deciding it all seems puny and laughable, almost like trying to dictate to nature where the oil should be found in the first place.

I'd rather let the market sort the prices out for itself, and keep my eyes peeled for a good price for my next fillup, than trust that a committee somewhere knows best what I ought to be paying for my transportation.