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Originally Posted by ngdawg
What is there to ration? The rising prices have nothing to do with scarcity and everything to do with investor speculation.
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This is an extreme statement, and it is false.
It has
something to do with investor speculation. The other factors include peaking production (it is happening), creeping demand (India and China are still
far behind in per capita consumption compared to the average G8 nation), and, of course, the eroded value of the American dollar (oil prices are set in U.S. dollars; this is why oil futures are so attractive right now). And, if you can believe it, there are more factors as well.
You are paying more at the pump because of a host of reasons. Let's not be mislead by reducing it to a single reason. It isn't that simple.
That said, I would support rationing where there were outright shortages, say, on the provincial (or state) or national level. Rationing would fix any problems caused by stoppages of gasoline deliveries. Allowing the free market to "fix" the problem (as though it has done so in the past) likely won't work. There are geographic issues and changing consumption patterns that would likely stymie any real reading of what the market is doing if gasoline had shortages. You don't want you economy literally grinding to a halt due to mismanagement of a valuable resource. We ration other things in times of shortages; why not gasoline?