The Price of Gas
April 25th, 2008 by Peter SudermanVia Cato’s Jerry Taylor, this wonderful bit on that oh-so-nasty corporate villain, Exxon-Mobil, from a professor of economics at Temple University:
Some presidential candidates have decided that Exxon is a symbol of what is wrong with America. Recent ads complain of Exxon’s 40 billion in profits as if Exxon is some evil entity. First of all, Exxon is not a person, it is millions of owners owning over 5 billion shares in their investment portfolios. Vanguard holds over 160 million shares for its clients, Fidelity over 100 million shares. Taking Exxon’s profits for hair-brained government schemes will just mean millions of people will have to work longer to accumulate their retirement assets. And, doesn’t return on investment count? 40 billion may not represent a particularly good return on the capital invested in the company. Size is not the issue, the percentage return is what counts.
And the government takes over 40 cents a gallon in tax, far more than the profit per gallon made by refiners. And the government doesn’t make any gas for you.
And yet Hillary Clinton continues to argue that government, by adding regulations, is somehow going to make gas prices drop.
