Cruz Bustamante has proposed a cure for the high gas prices in California: regulate it like electricity. Lynne Kiesling says all there is to say about this idea:
Cruz Bustamante’s proposal to regulate gasoline as a utility indicates that he wants consumers to sit in line and wait for gas, like consumers do in Baghdad, instead of being able to buy gas when convenient, albeit at higher prices. In advocating such an ill-advised policy, Bustamante reveals one dimension in which he does not differ from Governor Gray Davis – his complete and utter lack of understanding of how markets give us the best available signals and opportunities about how to use our scarce resources. Davis’s leadership failure in the electricity crisis contributed to his current predicament. Hopefully Cruz Bustamante will see the parallels, retract his populist proposal, and avoid being hoist by the same petard.
If it weren't for California's importance to the global economy, its specific importance to the tech economy, PLUS the fact that I now live in this ridiculous state, I'd almost be in favor of the idea...let Californians clearly see the effect of price controls in a supply-restricted market. Of course, there's always the danger that everyone would blame the big corporations instead of their own failed regulation. It's been known to happen.
Posted by Stephen Bronstein at August 31, 2003 10:49 AM