Andy Bradford wrote:
In this case, if the price of crude oil goes to high, and hence the cost of producing gasoline which gets passed on to the consumer, the consumer will react by purchasing less or finding alternatives. If companies in this business want to stay competitive, they will be forced by market forces to become more efficient or go out of business. If this means raising the capacity, so be it. No one is forcing consumers to buy oil based products.
*Inertia* is forcing consumers to buy oil based products. People already live in one place and work in another, and it takes a long time to change employment or move to a new house. A lot of people are already living at the edge of their income. If the market changes too much too quickly, many will fall into poverty, simply because they can no longer afford to commute.
Thus if you don't want people to starve, you need to have someone regulating the market to a certain extent. Otherwise real people fall through the cracks.
I tend to disagree on this point. I think the market reacts much more quickly and deftly than any bloated governmental institution can do.
Yes, but sometimes quick change is exactly what you don't want. You need someone with authority to react and smooth things out. Case in point: the 70 foot crater on highway 6 that got repaired in days... by the government.
Shane .-----------------------------------. | This has been a P.L.U.G. mailing. | | Don't Fear the Penguin. | | IRC: #utah at irc.freenode.net | `-----------------------------------'
