> I wrote:
> >Michael Lorrey <retroman@together.net> writes:
> >>[Oil] prices remained above $23.00 per barrel for oil until the
> >>late 80's. While supply may have been high, government policies
> >>kept oil prices higher than they should have been.
>
> >Could you please cite these policies and explain how they kept oil
> >prices "higher than they should have been"?
>
> I should emphasize that my point was that the absolute price of oil
> in the US is lower that it "should" be.
In that case, I must ask you the same question: cite some policies
(and tell us who promoted and enforced them) and explain how they
kept oil prices *lower* than they should be.
Further, explain how *you* decided what oil prices *should* have
been.
> Although Michael may be
> right that the price was a little bit higher relative to the
> standard US price these days, the fact remains that it never got
> even close to the price that it would be in a completely free
> market.
I will absolutely agree with that, as *today* there is an
identifiable non-free-market cause of *elevated* prices in the US.
The commonly admitted significance of this cause is, in this state,
about 30 cents on each gallon of gasoline.
As a first cut at the first-order, non-admitted significance of this
cause as being at least 15 cents, but probably not more than 45
cents, out of the price of each gallon. That is *in* *addition* to
the admitted effects.
This identifiable cause is: taxes paid directly by the oil industry,
including the payroll taxes of oil-industry employees.
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