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The Free Market and Gas Prices

“Americans are happy with the free market when it allows them to buy cheap T-shirts and twenty-nine-dollar DVD players, but they tend to like it less when they have to pay fifty dollars to fill up their gas tanks.”

Pump Pressure – The New Yorker

I’d be willing to bet money that there is a correlation between “free-market” people and the mpg of their vehicles. The more they believe in the free-market, the more they gripe about high gas prices, and the bigger their cars and trucks are.

How’s that for some sweeping generalizations?

Seriously though, gas is too cheap in this country. We should all be paying at least $1.50/gallon more than we pay right now.

Increase the gas tax, make us pay more, build more public transit, watch our dependence on oil decrease. It’s that simple.

{ 1 } Comments

  1. Mean Dawg | 9/28/2005 at 4:11 pm | Permalink

    Yo,
    I’m a friend of the swansons’ and read your blog fairly often. I agree. We are so sheltered here. Gas is cheap as wack here. In Denmark it’s $6.50 /gal. WTF is everyone complaining about. You can barely buy a gallon of milk for under 3 buck. Gas is still one of the cheapest gallons a person can buy.
    Go blue states!!!