[backhoe]

Back when there really was an Evil Empire ( the USSR ) there was a rather telling joke making the rounds, regarding the wonders of a top-down, command economy:

Q. What happens when we take over the Sahara Desert?

A. For fifty years, nothing-- then, there's a sand shortage...

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Crosslinking:

Sticker Shock-$3 a gallon gas? Click the picture:

[Gondring]

Now we're way off the top of this graph...

[oldironsides]

That price is almost what the marina's on the Chesapeake are charging power boaters. $4.50 for gas and $4.09 for diesel. The boating business will be slowing down
a lot. Sailboats excluded.