President Bush is likely to veto legislation that would create hefty fines and criminal penalties for gasoline price-gouging, the White House said Wednesday.[...]
The White House, in a formal statement of administration policy, said the legislation amounted to price controls that would hinder oil companies and retailers from responding to market signals, potentially worsening fuel shortages.
And wouldn't that be sad?
I heard an NPR report this morning about busting up the cozy deal oil companies have with each other to fix gasoline prices. It seemed that nobody in the current administration thinks that's a good idea. How many of them have some connection to the big oil companies do you think?
One analyst said that would be a terrible idea because of the theory of economy of size - the larger conglomerate can do things more cheaply and efficiently than smaller entities. He said that if you want to go back to bicycles, then go ahead and pass a law busting up the big companies.
I had to wonder about the individual size of each of the large oil companies - they aren't big enough on their own? And just what is it they're doing together that becomes more economical because of their cohesion - other than setting gasoline prices, I mean.
"How many of them have some connection to the big oil companies do you think?"
ReplyDeleteOnly one connection? A few of them. Multiple connections? Pretty much all of the rest.