The government should not control the price of gas because that would take away the benefits of fluctuating gas prices from state to state and station to station. While it may seem that gas prices would be “fairer” if the government set them, they would actually be unfair to some states.
The government shouldn’t have control of the price of gas because the fluctuations of prices would have a negative effect on the majority of American citizens who are not in the top 1%. If gas prices increase, lower class citizens would have a difficult time affording gas, along with their other basic needs. However, if gas prices are very low, then consumers will buy lots of gas. This is bad because fossil fuels are limited and drilling for oil can be hazardous to the environment. If demand is greater than supply of gas, there could be a shortage of gasoline, causing prices to skyrocket.
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Currently, there is no monopoly on gas in the United States. If prices were controlled by the government, there would be no competition for gas stations and eventually all the different chains of gas stations would go out of business or be consolidated so that one gasoline company would own all of the stations in America. This would overall be bad for the economy.
The third reason in favor of no government regulation for gas prices is that it would be bad for state economies. For example, if New York’s gas prices are $5 per gallon while some Midwestern states are selling gas for $2 per gallon and all the prices are raised to a “regulated” price at $5 per gallon, the Midwestern states will suffer. The prices should reflect supply and demand for a specific area, as well as specific state economies, instead of lumping the entire country into one “average.” It just doesn’t make sense to charge the same amount to every consumer in completely different economic