Much nonsense has been uttered by pandering pols and ignorant columnists about the price of gasoline. The nonsense is refuted in this splendid essay by Professor Tom Lehman. Much as some people want to believe that gas prices are the result of some dark conspiracy, they are a spontaneous market phenomenon in which government intervention is always counter-productive — from the energy standpoint, at least. Politically, of course, intervention usually pays off. People often get away with fraud, too.