At CNN’s site, this article discusses how different and how the same all the “front-running” candidates are regarding energy policies.
They aren’t that different.
What I find most enlightening is that all of them oppose increasing taxes on gasoline. Everyone is against that. Except for all of the economists who understand the American consumer better than any politician. We are led by our pocketbooks and wallets. As long as oil is relatively cheap, our overall consumption will not go down. And despite my lack of economic wisdom and current research, I will bet anyone out there that our consumption has not slowed down in any appreciable way as the price of gasoline has risen.
Let me tell you why: The pattern of prices has seem to have been: Steady, steady, rise quickly, level off, go down a little bit, steady, steady, rise quickly. With each “rise quickly” we all swear we are going to drive less, drive more slowly, but then the price moves down a few cents, maybe even twenty cents, and we are back to our old driving habits. Each spiral increases prices and resets our pain threshold. And throughout all of this, we have not changed our lifestyles. Things still happen at the last minute. We are still late to the next promise. Teenagers still forget to tell you they have to be somewhere for school. And the work meeting with your boss and your boss’s boss is not going to wait for you as you drive 55 mph across town.
And because the increases in gas prices are in the 10 cents range, that is, really only about $2.00 per tankful. It is not enough to hurt many of us. Every time I decide to not make my lunch in the morning, I spend more than that.
So, are the economists wrong and the politicians right? We would just ignore the tax increase? Or would we throw the political bums out? The tax would have to be painful enough to get us to use less gas. And since it would hurt the poorest who have to drive to work, it would be painfully regressive. And it would have to be framed as a way to help all of us kick the gasoline tank off our backs. Despite Reagan’s line that the scariest words are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help,” I find that there are scarier ones, “We’re the government and we’re not here to promote the general welfare.”
