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It's interesting that wage controls, price controls, using martial law to seize assets, and paying large handouts to oil-owning capitalists can be spun as a "go

It's interesting that wage controls, price controls, using martial law to seize assets, and paying large handouts to oil-owning capitalists can be spun as a "good thing" if you can produce a handwavey, mostly unsupported association between these policies and the good ol' days of America. Waves of economic thinking tend to coincide with one crisis and go out of fashion with the next crisis. Most economic policies that were once popular can thusly be blamed for "uniform economic growth" in a chosen period.

dredmorbius 12y ago
The point in question for oil is the one control you haven't mentioned: supply control. That was the whole point of the TRC quotas: to match wellhead output to demand. If you'll follow my reddit link above I show the growth trend in GDP and oil prices -- what was achieved was a very high level of price stability. Not through direct price controls, but by matching levels. Post-1973, prices wander all over the map, see BP's Annual Statistical Review: http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/images/other/Energy-economics/stats-review-2014/Oil-prices-oil-graph-crude-oil-prices-2014-bp.jpg http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/images/other/Energy-economi... From: http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/review-by-energy-type/oil/oil-prices.html http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/energy-econom... Note that prices stabilize in the mid-1930s, and actually fall in real terms through 1973. The period since is marked by profound variability. The good from supply and consumption matching is that there was a high degree of economic stability during this period.
waps 12y ago
What truly amazes me is that the US actually stopped doing it. > That regime remained in place until March of 1972, when peak oil extraction in the US meant that limits were no longer necessary -- I come from Europe, where tons and tons of regulation is no longer necessary, but has somehow transformed into yet another tax. Oil price controls were introduced in Europe as well, but they somehow transformed from a bottom under prices, into a 40%+ tax on gasoline.
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  And that tax has served Europe very well. It's diverted monies which would have gone to oil companies (and states), allowed for infrastructure investments, and hugely increased energy efficiency, particularly in transportation.

dredmorbius 12y ago

The point in question for oil is the one control you haven't mentioned: supply control. That was the whole point of the TRC quotas: to match wellhead output to demand. If you'll follow my reddit link above I show the growth trend in GDP and oil prices -- what was achieved was a very high level of price stability. Not through direct price controls, but by matching levels. Post-1973, prices wander all over the map, see BP's Annual Statistical Review: http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/images/other/Energy-economics/stats-review-2014/Oil-prices-oil-graph-crude-oil-prices-2014-bp.jpg http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/images/other/Energy-economi... From: http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/energy-economics/statistical-review-of-world-energy/review-by-energy-type/oil/oil-prices.html http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/energy-econom... Note that prices stabilize in the mid-1930s, and actually fall in real terms through 1973. The period since is marked by profound variability. The good from supply and consumption matching is that there was a high degree of economic stability during this period.

waps 12y ago

What truly amazes me is that the US actually stopped doing it. > That regime remained in place until March of 1972, when peak oil extraction in the US meant that limits were no longer necessary -- I come from Europe, where tons and tons of regulation is no longer necessary, but has somehow transformed into yet another tax. Oil price controls were introduced in Europe as well, but they somehow transformed from a bottom under prices, into a 40%+ tax on gasoline.

dredmorbius 12y ago
And that tax has served Europe very well. It's diverted monies which would have gone to oil companies (and states), allowed for infrastructure investments, and hugely increased energy efficiency, particularly in transportation.