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Originally Posted by 82 GT
The price won't come down much because the goverment will think "Gee...if they can buy gas at $3/gallon then certainly we can keep it there". Gas will never go below $2/gallon again and the "Mad Max" scene won't be too far in the distant future.
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I think you meant to say that the
oil companies will keep the price of gasoline high...not the government. The government taxes gas at the pump but does not 'set' the pump price. Not yet, anyway.
The Mad Max scenario you insist will occur any day now is based on your assumption that with gasoline at over $2.00 per gallon, drivers will riot. I think not. Gas is a necessity for most of us and while a $5.00 per gallon price
might start riots...$2.50 per gallon won't. Factored for inflation, at $2.00 + a gallon, we are paying the same or very close to what drivers paid per-gallon 30 years ago - and the average car today...even a V-8 Mustang...gets far better gas mileage than a 1975 or earlier car.
The fact that...as you said...gasoline is a economic necessity for the people and our economy, the government will not allow it to become so expensive that no one can buy it or if they do, it negatively impacts the economy. This whole problem could be alleviated if the government would drop some of the insane regulations that make building an oil refinery impossible and would allow more off-shore and Artic drilling. The U.S. has plenty of oil reserves underground but environmental-whacko regulations make drilling for it either illegal or financially impractical. That must change.
Oil drilling is very sophisticated these days and can easily be done in a way that does not harm the surrounding environment. To have to depend on almost 60% of our oil coming from unstable, foreign countries is ridiculous. More U.S. oil wells and local gas refineries would cut the cost and the ultimate price of gas to U.S. consumers, not to mention the risk of our supplies being held hostage by terrorists or other crazies.
One of the problems with how we view the price of gas is in our perceptions. We grew up with gasoline being relatively cheap and so, a 50 cent-per-gallon rise in price over a week is a shock. That's to be expected. However, even at $3.50 per gallon, that price isn't so terribly high and the vast majority of Americans can and will pay it. However, once the distribution problems subside, gas prices will come down, albeit probably never below $2.00 per gallon, as you said. Then again, a cup of coffee - which cost about 50 cents in 1975 - costs $1.50 or more at most diners and coffee shops, today. Few people complain because the price is reasonable when you also compare what people made in salary 30 years ago. It's all relative.
While a true gas shortage will certainly make tempers flair and people will get a little crazy, the idea of gasoline someday becoming some kind of super-precious commodity that people will kill for is a giantic stretch of the imagination. Of course, if you still wish to believe that scenario will happen, you are welcome to do so. We all have our fantasies. I simply find it naive and based more on emotional responses and a lack of understanding than reality.