When it comes to the oil sector (as in others), additional government interventions only cause unintended consequences. Using the threat of Strategic Petroleum Reserve withdrawals to limit “price gouging” and “profiteering” only cripples the ability of the market to anticipate and mitigate supply disruptions.
Venezuela used to be one of South America's richest countries but years of explicitly socialist policies from the Chavez and Maduro regimes have taken their toll. Today, who can honestly defend the socialist structure that has caused Venezuela to descend into a nightmare of starvation and violence?
Forty years ago tonight, President Jimmy Carter delivered an address making dark predictions of an imminent shortage of natural energy resources. But instead of ridiculing Carter’s speech, we should learn from it. It shows the power of markets to deal with resource constraints.
