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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Eric who wrote (23949)	10/21/2010 4:54:22 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 86355

I experienced it personally and up close. Which is not an argument against, "Those gas lines where largely a result of price controls", or even something that suggests you would have solid information to the contrary. We had a panic situation in the country. People started to rush to fill up their vehicles and horded gas. Which with or without price controls will cause short term shortages and lines if its a serious enough panic, but without price controls (or other perverse intervention) would not normally cause shortages or lines to continue to exist over time. People might have their tanks at an average of around half full. In a panic, with everyone trying to fill their tanks, you get half a tank (circa 10 gallons, maybe slightly more than, and maybe slightly less now) times many millions of cars, extra short term demand. But once that is filled, even continued panic won't result in continued shortages. People are not going to drive more, or in ways to use more gasoline per mile, because they are concerned about the supply of gas, instead you will get the opposite. So demand will go back to normal, or below normal, after the initial surge. You might get more frequent fill ups, which will increase average waiting times, but without shortages you won't get the massive lines I directly (but fortunately for the most part wasn't in, see below) or the more massive lines I saw in newspapers and on TV. You had continued lines because you had shortages. You had shortages mostly because you had price controls. Sure there was a supply disruption (esp. in the early 70s), but without price controls (even indirect price controls through political pressure or physical threat, without actual legislation or regulation), the price goes up until lines are less of a factor. Perhaps not a non-factor, prices sometimes have a bit of stickiness to them, but not the crazy massive factor they where at times in the 70s. Were you driving around then? I don't see why you think its relevant, but I'll answer anyway. I was alive for both the early 70s and the late 70s lines, and particularly remember the later, but I wasn't driving during either.)