[extropy-chat] Re: Ethics and evolution

[Technotranscendence]

On Monday, September 05, 2005 12:44 PM David Lubkin
extropy at unreasonable.com wrote:
>> But this should be true of any society and people
>> typically develop, when given the chance, ways of
>> spotting the charlatans.  E.g., word of mouth works
>> wonders when it comes to auto mechanics.  Why is
>> that?  It's not an example of the state coming in or
>> of anti-fraud activists.  It's just people naturally not
>> wanting to be cheated and also realizing that
>> everyone is not an automotive genius, yet finding
>> ways to spread information in a spontaneous fashion.
>
> Gas prices have soared.

Yes, they have.  Why this is so is a matter for speculation.  Partly, it
has to do with inflation finally catching up with oil prices.  (The Fed
has been extensively devaluing the dollar over the last several years as
the increases in the money supply itself shows.  However, such increases
do not lead to uniform increases in prices across the board.  Were they
to do that, no one would ever inflation the money supply as it would
reap no gains for anyone.)  Partly, it has to do with increased demand
for oil overall.  And partly, in the US, it has to do with government
interference in the energy industry ranging from extensive regulations
on building new refineries, pipelines, and exploiting oil resources to
taxes on gas at the pump.

> The government response was (in part) to decry
> "price-gouging," and encourage people to report
>"artificially inflated" gas prices at
> http://gaswatch.energy.gov/ .
>
> This is an evil concept. Government should stay out
> of prices.  Government attempts to manage prices
> don't work and are inherently immoral. In a free market,
> "inflated" prices are self-correcting.

The problem is getting people to see that it's not evil businesses per
se but the overall economic situation that gives rise to these
increases.  That's hard to see because it involves thinking beyond,
"Hey, gas is up ten cents over yesterday!"  Most people are, sadly,
unwilling to make that jump and many people seem to love price controls.
In this case, though, I don't think the price rises are a local
phenomenon or due to gouging.  I think they are a systemic problem and
one caused partly by devaluing the dollar.  That can only be corrected,
in a sense, by either allowing market prices to adjust (i.e., rise) or
by stopping the devaluation (e.g., by abolishing the Fed and getting
government out of the money supply).  Gas stations and oil companies are
not really behind that.

> On the other hand, some clever mind devised and
> rapidly implemented http://www.gasbuddy.com/ ,
> which is a simple and effective way of
> accelerating price-correction.

That's a good idea.  Other things that are possible too are for people
to just economize more -- make fewer unnecessary trips, use A/C less,
carpool where possible, and walk if it's a short trip.

Regards,

Dan
    See "Freedom Above or Tyranny Below" at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/~neptune/SpaceFreedom.html