Here is my shot at them.
And then there is the timeless classic from Dr. Walter Williams:
"Economic ignorance, misconceptions and superstition drive us toward totalitarianism because they make us more willing to hand over greater control of our lives to politicians. That results in a diminution of our liberties. Think back to the gasoline price controls during the 1970s."
"The price controls caused shortages. To deal with the shortages, restrictions were imposed on purchases. Then national highway speed limits were enacted. Then there were more calls for smaller and less crashworthy cars. With the recent gasoline supply shocks, we didn't experience the shortages, long lines and closed gas stations seen during the 1970s. Why?"
"Prices were allowed to perform their allocative function -- get people to use less gas and get suppliers to supply more. Economic ignorance is to politicians what idle hands are to the devil. Both provide the workshop for the creation of evil."
The current "gouging law" is the worst kind of price control. If the law merely said $8.01 a gallon is too much, that would be one thing. But the current law merely prohibits setting a price at a level "grossly in excess of the price prior to the declaration and unrelated to any increased cost to the seller." That's no law; that's an open invitation to the government to make up the rules as it goes.
