… is from page 3 of the 2012 revised edition of Steven Landsburg’s 1993 book, The Armchair Economist:
I am old enough to remember the late 1970s and waiting half an hour to buy a tank of gasoline at a federally controlled price. Virtually all economists agreed that if the price were allowed to rise freely, people would buy less gasoline. Many noneconomists believed otherwise. The economists were right. When price controls were lifted, the lines disappeared.
DBx: Yep. And of course, not only did the higher prices cause consumers to demand a lower quantity of gasoline, they also incited suppliers to supply a higher quantity.
…..
I just discovered that I’ve never posted here at Cafe Hayek this July 2008 letter (available here) that I submitted to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It tells the tale of a far longer wait, in the summer of 1979, than 30 minutes to buy gasoline. Perhaps my father and I waited too long, given that we managed to get our family car to (almost) the front of the line. But the very fact that my father (and at least one other motorist) waited so long testifies to the calamitous confusions and consequences caused by price controls.
21 July 2008
Editor, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Editor:
I disagree with Cynthia Tucker’s claim that “Carter deserves credit for his energy smarts” (July 20). The price controls enforced during Jimmy Carter’s presidency – ones within his power to lift – were responsible for fuel shortages.
I well remember in July of 1979 my father driving to a gasoline station at midnight only to wait in line. [He arrived early enough to park the car beside the pump; only one motorist was ahead of him.] He waited in that line until 6am, when I (having walked the mile and a half from our home) relieved him. The station finally opened at noon. It allowed each motorist in line to buy a maximum of five gallons of gasoline. I bought the five gallons and drove home – without, of course, turning on the air-conditioner, for to do so would have burned too much of the precious elixir. As we lived in New Orleans, these sorry recollections of the consequences of misguided government intervention are seared especially hot into my memory.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics – George Mason University
