Tech Central Station scores again with this one.
READ IT AND HEED IT! (Pass it on as may be necessary.)
This essay is not meant to insult your intelligence. Instead, I am attempting to explain elementary economics to the most poorly-educated segment of our society, meaning people like Energy Secretary Bodman, Senator Bill Frist, Lou Dobbs, and Bill O’Reilly. Leave No Demagogue Behind.
Let’s go s-l-o-w-l-y. Start by asking yourselves these questions:
* Should the goal of U.S. energy policy be to raise long-term domestic energy production, or to reduce long-term domestic energy production?
* Should the goal of U.S. energy policy be to increase profits earned by Iran and other foreign producers, or to reduce their profits?
* Should the goal of U.S. energy policy be to increase consumer demand for gasoline, to leave consumer demand alone, or to reduce consumer demand?
Did you answer “raise long-term domestic energy production,” “reduce profits of foreign suppliers,” and “leave consumer demand alone” or “reduce consumer demand”? Very good! Those are very sensible answers. Before reading further, go back and repeat the questions and the answers five times, to make sure that they stick in your mind.
The piece goes on to spell out the realities of the curent oil situation. Check it out – it ain’t necessarily what you hear on the news, or from the politicians, pundits, et al. The conclusion is pithy and to the point:
Congress wants to treat American consumers like children, who should not have to deal with reality when it comes to the supply and demand for gasoline. It might be better to treat consumers as adults, and let us make grown-up decisions. These grown-up decisions probably will serve the country’s interest more than the infantile energy policies now under consideration.
Are you in the political/economic playpen, or not?