Let the Market Work
Check out this exchange, involving Tony Blankley from The Washington Times, Pat Buchanan of MSNBC, and Eleanor Clift of Newseek, from last week’s McLaughlin Group about President Bush’s call for people to conserve gasoline in their daily activities:
MR. BLANKLEY: Let me make a quick point. Free-market prices maintain equilibrium of supply and demand. Let the price go up. People will make individual decisions.
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: Right.
MR. BLANKLEY: And they will cut back. They did when the prices went up. Some did; some didn’t. The idea of hortatory calls for conservation never work.
MR. BUCHANAN: John, they are all buying Eleanor Clift Priuses and they’re not buying my Navigators anymore.
MS. CLIFT: Right. (Laughs.)
MR. BUCHANAN: The market is working. People will not drive when the price goes up --
MR. MCLAUGHLIN: So you agree --
MR. BUCHANAN: -- but they’ll put investment and money into oil.
Also from last week’s McLaughlin Group, Mort Zuckerman from U.S. News & World Report makes the important point that rising costs of gasoline greatly impact the poorest and most vulnerable populations. MR. ZUCKERMAN: ...It is very difficult in Am
Weblog: Acton Institute PowerBlogTracked: Oct 05, 08:37