amlevin
Regular Member
Never underestimate the power of mass hysteria
I remember a few years back in AZ... a gasoline pipeline from Kali that brought in something like 10% of our gas supply broke. The media jumped on it and scared the crap out of the sheeple telling them "better fill up now before all the gas is gone!" Within a day or so gas stations were running out of gas, prices were extortionate, people were lining up to panic, etc. Think a couple of tanker drivers got beat up too. Now during all this, they upped the number of tankers coming in from Kali to compensate. All in all, the actual interruption in supply was very minor and probably wouldn't even have been noticed without the stupid media panic. In about a week the pipeline was fixed & everything was back to normal. I had filled up just prior to the break & got to sit back & laugh while all the sheeple stampeded. By the time I needed to fill up agian, it was over.
And this helps make my point. Although we tend to blame politicians as the cause of everything bad that happens in the economy, some "wounds" are self inflicted. The media fanning the flames and the "sheeple" running out and doing the last thing that should be done in order to avoid an unnatural shift in the market. Gasoline is a market driven commodity and any speculation or panic will run the price up far beyond the natural levels dictated by "supply and demand".