What needs to be done is to put a reasonable cap on gas prices. But of course the Fed's will never do anything to help the masses.
For that to happen you would have to nationalize and socialize the oil industry. Unfortunately, most of the profits and the bulk of gasoline prices are at the crude oil level. A gas price that would be “reasonable” to the average Escalade driver would likely be below the world market production price for refined gasoline since a typical gross margin on gasoline at rack to retail is roughly 10 cents or so. Thus, our tax dollars would have to subsidize gasoline production, or have alarming shortages of fuel since we can't substantially influence the cost of Crude at the world market level (Except by our demand, which we can influence by our driving and automotive choices) and we cant rely on oue anemic domestic production.
Just look to the gasoline supply crunch (cant get gas today for me, I have an even numbered last digit and it’s odd numbers only today!) and higher overall prices of the 1970s for what happens with price controls. Even diehard consumer watchdog groups don’t want price controls. If we relied only on domestic production our economy would deflate.
We are in a demand driven supply cycle, due to high US motor fuel consumption and the growing markets in China and India. You want lower gas prices? Stop buying Chinese junk, demand a level playing field with international trade agreements so we reduce our dangerous trade deficit to natural competition levels, and drive more fuel efficient cars like we drove between the time reality set in 1973 and we forgot about reality in the mid “future’s so bright” 1990s.
Charon
