Many of us remember the oil shortages of the late seventies. They caused more than just the inconvenience of occasional gasoline rationing. Several elderly people actually died in the New York City area because of a lack of heating oil. Some people thought it would only get worse, and we would run out of oil completely before long.
Interestingly, at the same time, gold and other things much rarer than oil were available to anyone who wanted them. This gives us a clue to what causes an oil shortage, or any other shortage. It is usually just one thing.
Oil Shortages Are Caused By Price Controls
Actually, almost all long term shortages of basic commodities in a modern economy are caused by price controls. Other than economists, not many people know this. They clamor for price controls when prices rise, and these controls then cause shortages. They do it in about ten ways. Examples of three of these ways follow.
First, under price controls, the law said that oil producers couldn’t sell oil for more than a certain amount. Of course they immediately closed wells that were producing at a cost higher than that. Reducing the supply sure...