Free Markets — Let ‘Em Work
June 19th, 2008 by Buck Woodford
There’s lots of wrangling about who in government is going to “fix the problem” of high energy prices. It doesn’t need fixing.
Now I’m no proponent of tobacco consumption, but MSNBC’s report that — far from expectation at the time — production of the golden leaf has done nothing but increase since the federal price support system was scrapped in 2004.
Artificial tinkering with supply/demand is just a bad idea. Market participants nearly always work things out — for the best — themselves !
This is already happening in energy — in both transportation and home uses. Just this week:
- Here in Lexington, use of mass transit is increasing.
- Canadian Solar (CSIQ) this week increased its sales guidance for its solar panels by over $100 million.
- Finally, scientists are developing bacteria that literally eat garbage and poop crude oil.
Somewhere, Adam Smith is smiling.
