Around noon today, I passed a BP station with no gas near Hillsborough. Further west near Mebane, a station had regular unleaded at $3.59 per gallon, but no premium. The line to the pump was steady. What’s going on? I’m not sure, but I know for sure that North Carolina’s price gouging law doesn’t help matters when we experience disruptions. In this interview, JLF’s Roy Cordato explains the negative impact of the gouging law in the days following Hurricane Ike. It’s a great example of public policy that ends up hurting the very people it’s intended to help. We see the same pattern of hurting consumers rather than helping them in other areas of public policy as well.
UPDATE AT 2:10 PM: The News & Observer is reporting that AAA is urging people to conserve gas during a temporary disruption likely to last 7 to 10 days.
