Let's all sit back and enjoy that song from the economy murderer's row:
Come on babe, why don't we pay some more?
For all that gas
I'm gonna rouge my brains and throw my wallet down
For all that gas
Start the car, I know an oil slick
Where the tax is high, but the unleaded's thick
It's just a trip to the mall for which you'll nightly bawl
Over all…that…gas…
First there was Reverend Wright, then there was Louis Farakhan, and then Reverend Wright again. Now Obama is getting an endorsement from the former chairman of George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisors. Will his tormentors never stop? As reported by Reuters, Greg Mankiw says, "Score one for Obama," while in the same breath he says, "gas prices should be higher, not lower." Yeah, that should shut up all those people who say Barack Obama is elite and out of touch with the needs of the common man.
John McCain and Hillary Clinton agree that the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax should take a summer vacation while Barack Obama rationally explains that the average savings would only be $25 to $30, or half a tank of gas. While one could also do the math for the poor who take driving vacations with older cars, and would save a full tank or more, Mankiw takes the opportunity to step in and say gas prices should be made higher "in light of the side effects associated with driving." What side effects is he talking about—getting to work, getting your groceries, or getting to your doctor's appointments? What are you supposed to do for money if you cannot possibly drive less?
But Gilbert Metclaf, an economics professor at Tufts University currently working with the National Bureau of Economic Research agrees. His reason? "If we want people to invest in energy-saving cars, we need some assurance that the higher price paid for these cars is going to pay off through fuel savings." In order words, Metcalf is saying don't take an ounce of pressure off of consumers even for a short time because only when we break their backs will more expensive alternatives seem cheap.
I want to save the environment too. The problem I have with economists handing out environmental advice in response to stimulus plans is the same problem I have with aerospace engineers performing gall bladder surgery in response to a landing gear problem.
Remember, the two economists, Mankiw and Metcalf, who became "many economists" in the Reuters story while riding Obama's coattails, don't just want to preserve the gas tax, they want the price of gas increased. To those in their camp, $5 – 6 per gallon is the sweet spot, which will force you to buy a hybrid and pay for the next generation of research. At $6 you save absolutely nothing even if you get 40 mpg. And if you already drive the minimum, you do absolutely nothing for the environment. Can't that very bad idea wait for another year? Perhaps they think they are practicing an even greater form of Macro Economics than their peers. Maybe they would call it Mega Economics with an environmental twist. But as they are incompetent in both realms, I call it Megalomaniacal Economics. An economy under a mortgage swamp with soaring food prices is not the time to say you have to go buy a new car, pay more for gas, and pay an extra $3,000 for a hybrid while you're at it.
Economists riding to the defense of high gas prices: That's one thing we don't have to buy.
Find a can, we're playing fast and loose
With all that gas
Right up here is where they pluck your goose
For all that gas
Come on babe, we're gonna pump it dry
I bet the price of gold never went so high
Cause when philosophy's clear
Why would they shed a tear?
For all...that…gas
