Gas-price Controls Backfire in Hawaii
Lead article today in World Net Daily.
Hawaii’s gas price controls, imposed last fall when the cost of fuel was hovering around $3 a gallon in many parts of the U.S., have actually triggered much higher costs for consumers.
But the most significant observation of the article is this:
Before the gas cap law, Hawaii paid an average of 44 cents more per gallon than the rest of the mainland. Since the law went into effect in September, however, the differential has increased to more than 50 cents per gallon.
Still Senator Ron Menor refuses to face reality:
“I cannot support a repeal because I think that would really be caving in to the oil industry that doesn’t want to be regulated.”
Not “caving in to the oil industry” isn’t a reason to keep the price controls in place, especially if they are costing consumers money rather than saving them money. This statement is more a revelation of Menor’s ideology rather than sound public policy. As has been pointed out time and time again price caps never work as intended and regulations always increase prices and cost consumers money.