The Incomplete Cynic

laliberty:

teaandhookah:

“lower taxes, remove all regulation, increase oil supply ===> lower gas prices derp!”

imbeciles. oil companies speculate! they forge futures contracts! they set prices before selling. the market doesn’t determine the motherfucking prices; oil companies do. this isn’t simple supply and demand economics. this shit is hardcore.

I saw that you left a disqus comment on the oil prices post, but I will reply to you here.

You’re right; what was I thinking? Supply doesn’t matter. Price never reflects that. All these global warming alarmists are wrong that depleting oil reserves necessarily leads to an increase in prices. And a ‘futures’ contract has nothing to do with total supply at all. And transportation and insurance is free so that adds nothing to the price - or futures - whatsoever.

Everything is supply and demand. Even an oil cartel with absolute authority over access cannot - without outright legalized coercion from government - set prices independent of the consumer’s ability and willingness to purchase. Such pressure leads to searches for alternatives, including decreases in use. That these decisions and considerations are being made with respect to a futures exchange is essentially irrelevant to supply and demand’s effects; at most, the price reflecting this information is delayed or temporarily obfuscated. 

With respect to “woeful ignorance of economics,” please see my post on “The Calculation Problem and Price Theory.” I’m curious if your intellectual rebut to that post will also include the word “derp.”

…or capital letters…