FTC: Free market caused high gas prices

FTC: Free market caused high gas prices
WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) --

A report by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission finds no evidence that illegal market manipulation increased gasoline prices after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The FTC did find some evidence of price gouging as defined by state laws. But the report said that market forces appeared to be responsible for the spike in gas prices that followed Katrina on Aug. 29 and Hurricane Rita a few weeks later.

A federal price gouging law would likely do more harm than good, the report said, by causing gasoline shortages. The agency said that price hikes were a market response to the damage done to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries and pipelines by the hurricanes and the inelasticity of demand for gas; consumers and businesses keep buying at the same level as the price rises.

The report said that oil companies responded to the supply shocks caused by the hurricanes in a way consistent with a fair market, including moving gas supplies from low-priced to high-priced areas.

From http://tinyurl.com/pyazg bravenet

Now don't you feel better knowing that all the price gouging, market manipulation, and fair market practices were/are all legal and above board. (Excuse me while I wipe the sarcasm off my keyboard)