From Yahoo! News comes this quaint little headline:
States Find it Tough to Prove Gas Prices Illegal
Arizona's comprehensive investigation into that state's high fuel prices after Hurricane Katrina concludes that while there was "profiteering" at all levels of the oil industry, nothing illegal took place.
Well, we certainly don't want anyone profiteering now, do we. No one should make profits at any time for any reason. We should just expect people to be motivated simply by altruism and whenever they find their business with excess cash, they should just give it away. Fah!
Washington's attorney general's office said in a report last week that its more recent investigation of today's high prices "has not found any evidence so far of illegal activity among gasoline retailers or producers in Washington."
Together, the two reports show that it is hard for authorities to prove consumers are being ripped off even in times of extraordinary price increases.
Geez. Imagine that. Um, maybe this is because gas prices are determined in a market that has sufficient competition to keep consumers from being "ripped off," whatever that means. Why would gas stations jack up their prices to "rip off consumers" when websites like this and this clearly state what neighborhood gas prices are? Some may think "collusion," but that is highly unlikely in places where one merely has to drive across or down the street to find the next gas station that carries more or less the same product. Indeed
California's own Energy Commission, for instance, acknowledges in an explanation of fuel prices on its website: "Rumors and charges of collusion among the oil companies have been raised for decades with nothing ever proven."
Furthermore, how is Joe Consumer being ripped off when he voluntarily goes to a gas station and fills 'er up?
For more on gas prices and a proper explanation of profits, check out King.
Update: Fah! on me too. I neglected to link to James Hamilton piece on gas prices. Double Fah! on me for neglecting to link to Doc's piece. Blame it on the move.