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  • From: Ron Thigpen <rthigpen AT nc.rr.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] speaking of gas prices.
  • Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 17:15:36 -0400

Steven Champeon wrote:

So, I guess CA can expect massive, week-long shortages of gasoline, too?
I mean, given the rolling brownouts of the past couple of years, I'd
think a gubernatorial candidate would know better than to hitch his wagon
to the stellar example of electrical utility regulation, no?

it was deregulation that kicked off the fiasco in CA. letting wholesale prices float is what brought the pigs to the trough. it would never have played out the way it did if the utilities commision had still been in the picture.

market forces can be good for efficiency, but you've got to have truly open markets: low entry costs, transparent information flows, no natural monopolies, etc. CA's wholesale electricity market was far from open and was ripe for manipulation.

the moral of this particular story isn't "industry regulation is always an inefficient mire", it's more like "beware free-market deregulatory evangelists with vested interests in that market".

--rt





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