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3:15 Eastern Time, Wednesday 8/24
CNBC just reported that the state of Hawaii has capped wholesale gasoline prices at just under $2.15/gallon in Honolulu. When will our socialist-leaning state governments realize that it is exactly that sort of move that causes shortages and gas lines?
I'm sure Hawaiians would rather have a plentiful supply of gasoline at $3/gallon than have the price be $2.50/gallon but not actually have any available.
It reminds me of a trip I took to the former Soviet Union. We wanted to buy gasoline for our scuba compressor and suggested going to a nearby town to buy some. We said we would just pay someone who is driving around in a car (and there were many) an extra couple of dollars (i.e. a full day's salary) for a couple of gallons of gas.
Our Soviet hosts said, in all seriousness, "No, gasoline is very cheap in Kandalaksha. You just can't buy any there." It looks as if the government of Hawaii studied at the same school of economics.
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Hawaii issues price controls on gasoline
Posted by Ross Kaminsky - August 24, 2005Thoughts? Add Comment -
Jeff said on Aug 25 2005 at 3:00pm
Malia Zimmerman has a great piece on this in today's Journal. Here is her closing paragraph:
Living in Hawaii often feels like being part of a bad social experiment. If lawmakers truly wanted to reduce gasoline prices, they'd eliminate or drastically reduce state and county gas taxes. Instead, they continue to pass laws like the gas cap that not only will be ineffective, but will hurt Hawaiian consumers and businesses, and most likely raise the price of gasoline even higher. Put simply, it's hard to hang loose when your state lawmakers are headed toward a major economic wipeout.