“Classical economists used to list among the virtues of the price mechanism that it avoided social strife…. It has worked so smoothly we did not understand what the classical economists meant; today we see. In addition to its economic virtues, the price mechanism is a vital buffer of civility.” (WSJ editorial, 1979)
For many decades, the opinion-page editorials of the Wall Street Journal have informed the public policy debate. This was certainly true during the 1970s energy crisis, and it remains so today amid climate alarmism and the nostrums of forced energy transformation.
With the gasoline lines on the East Coast, some marred by temper tantrums and fisticuffs, I am reminded of perhaps my all-time favorite WSJ energy editorial. “Buffer of Civility” was published during the dark days of energy violence in summer 1979 (yes, the U.S.…
Continue ReadingEd. Note: From time to time, MasterResource reaches back in energy history to document bad governmental ideas. The example before is surprisingly recent–just before the shale revolution destroyed the case for synthetic oil and gas (not to mention wind, solar, and even nuclear in power generation) as market-competitive.
“In March [2006], the [U.S. Department of] Energy Secretary, Samuel K. Bodman, said in a speech that making diesel fuel or jet fuel from coal was ‘one of the most exciting areas’ of research and could be crucial to the President’s [George W. Bush] goal of cutting oil imports.” (below)
Synthetic oil and gas: World War II, Korean War, postwar, 1970s. All projects a failure, completed or suspended-in-construction. But a last hurrah came in 2006, a period when none other than George W.…
Continue Reading“Something seems wrong with Devon if the CEO really has to fuss at his competitors to be less competitive.” (below)
It is a perennial problem. Consumers have the upper hand in a free market. Sellers, even with minerals that are supposed to be depleting (typically not), complain about the other guy and gal producing too much and pricing ‘irrationally.’ And another I once heard: ‘Buyers are smarter than sellers.’
I was reminded of this reading a recent article, “Devon CEO Urges Lower 48 E&Ps to Focus on Generating Cash, Limiting Oil, Gas Production” (May 5, 2021). The Natural Gas Intelligence (NGI) piece begins:
… Continue ReadingDevon Energy Corp. CEO Rick Muncrief said it’s time for his peers to get their act together and stop expanding oil and gas production until demand outpaces supply.