2006-04-27

Thomas Sowell: Oily politicians

"Ironically, the people who are making the most noise about the high price of gasoline are the very people who have for years blocked every attempt to increase our own oil supply. They have opposed drilling for oil off the Atlantic coast, off the Pacific coast, or in Alaska. They have prevented the building of any new oil refineries anywhere for decades.

They have fought against the building of hydroelectric dams or nuclear power plants to generate electricity without the use of oil. They love to talk about their own pet "alternative energy sources," without the slightest attention to what these would cost in terms of money, jobs, or our national standard of living.

Even when one of their pet "alternative energy sources" -- windmills -- is proposed to be built near them, suddenly it is not right to spoil their view.

Politicians have indulged these spoiled brats for generations. Now, when the chickens come home to roost, they are screaming about high prices and Big Oil. That is world class chutzpa."

2 comments:

Paul Hue said...

Six: Why do so many people not understand economics? Even many economists seem not to understand economics. The current pitchforks & torches mob scene may very well drive capital away from betting on profits from exploring, producing, and refining petro into other ventures. Gold prices have also been rising; does that result from a unified evil cabal?

Prices in a free market represent a convergence of many factors, including the interests of both producers and consumers. Prices include incentives AND RESOURCES for producers to compete for greater market share by producing more products; they also include incentives for consumers to seek alternatives and to modify their usage. Have humans devised a better mechanism for determining prices? Surely not govt committees mandating "fare" prices!

Paul Hue said...

(meant "fair" above, not "fare", obviously).