Andy Bradford wrote:
Thus said Shane Hathaway on Wed, 31 Aug 2005 14:56:54 MDT:
Jonathan Ellis wrote:
Demanding the government intervene and try to accomplish something
the free market is inherently better at (setting prices) is tempting
but foolish.
Agreed. The government can take steps to smooth rough times like this,
but it has relatively little power to control the free market.
The government should never take steps to ``smooth rought times'' as it
only has the power to make things worse. The New Deal is one of the
greatest example of governmental bungling America has ever seen. Let the
market set the prices, that is what it is good at as Jonathan suggests.
I did not suggest new legislation or price fixing. I suggested the
government should react by:
- advising consumers not to panic
- looking for ways to raise the capacity of other refineries for a short
time
- taking steps to restore refineries in short order
These kinds of reactions require a level of agility that the free market
does not have.
Shane
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