(no subject)

Had a post-apocalyptic beer last night with colleagues.

Conversation steered towards gas lines and prices, and "gouging". I said that the government should allow outsiders to bring in gas at a premium to ensure supply. All my colleagues were against it, because that would be unfair, meaning only the wealthy would get the gas at the high prices the station would charge. I said the bottom line is it would be fair, but there would be no gas. They said it's better if people wait for hours at a gas station but know that everyone's chance to get said gas is the same, rich or poor. They also said that if gas prices were up, people would start going crazy because they won't be able to afford it, leading to increase in violence. They also had a problem with people making money at the time of disasters, be it oil/gas producers or the station owners.

I kept saying that no matter what happens, if there is no supply, there is no gas on the ground for people to have, fair or not. The question is -- how do you ensure increased supply? You have to pay a premium, because to me the laws of supply and demand don't stop working because a crisis is on...I said that if they had a problem with prices going up at the pump, perhaps the government can shield the consumers from the increase by paying that premium delta direct to suppliers -- that way they can ensure supply and ensure that everyone pays the same at the pump, maintaining fairness.

Amazingly enough, my colleagues had a problem with that too -- "imagine the PR disaster for the supplier if people found out the oil company charged government extra at the time of crisis". "But there would be gas" -- I said. Still, I don't think I made a dent there.

I am not big on economy, but fuck -- why do people have a problem with crisis-time premiums? Why do they think that supply and demand just magically stop working during crisis times? Why, for the love of God, is it better to have no gas (or little gas) and wait in line for hours to ensure "fairness" than let someone make a profit by supplying gas-starved areas??

And mind you -- these are educated people from financial services industry talking...

(no subject)

Four more years of this worthless empty fucking suit.

Oh, fun.