Any update on how price controls at the wholsale level are working in Hawaii?
Not only is the Hawaii law stupid, it doesn't work.
Before the law took effect September 1 gas was about $2.76 a gallon for regular on Oahu.
The Honolulu Star Bulletin reported today that the "capped" price for gas is predicted to go to $3.62 a gallon by Monday. http://starbulletin.com/2005/09/08/news/index3.html
That is more increase in prices in two weeks than probably the prior two years before the law took effect.
The irony. The formula for the "cap," in order to make sure we don't get screwed by the "big oil companies" and pay more than you lucky people on the Mainland, is tied to the prices of four regional U.S. markets, including Louisiana/Gulf Coast!
But our oil doesn't even come from the U.S. The vast majority comes from Indonesia!
The oil companies are laughing all the way to the bank. And our government now has the gall to plead with them to be "fair" and not raise their prices all the way to the top of the cap even if they have the legal right to do so.