USDA let millions of pounds of food rot while food-bank demand soared
politico.com
politico.com
Any food bank can make a call and then just drive a truck to the warehouse storing this food and fill it to the brim for free. We do basically the same thing with grocery stores all the time. We get entire pallets. And even when it gets to us we still end up having a good portion of it rot for the same damn reason it’s rotting in the warehouse. We can’t afford to move it.
During the gas crisis of the 1970's, the government decided to control gas allocations to gas stations. Stations were allocated gas based on how much they sold last year. Naturally, as demand shifted around over time (as it always does) this led to shortages in some areas and gluts in others, and the supply of gas never matched the demand for it. A big part of the gas line problem was caused by this, as people were terrified that the local gas station would run out of their allocation.
This problem vanished overnight when Reagan, as his first act in office, repealed all the oil & gas price controls and allocation controls.
This is disingenuous. We reached a peace deal with Iran the day before Reagan's inauguration, which had a lot to do with it.
The US had implemented price controls which affected the fundamental interaction of the demand and supply curves.
Had the US let the price float, the price would have risen (probably considerably), and the country would have gone into recession. Upon which, the price for oil would have fallen, and things would have gotten back to normal.
Instead, the 1970's is a story full of price controls and the impact they have not just on the economy, but on the psyche as well (hint: look up "malaise" and Jimmy Carter).
> The 1979 (or second) oil crisis or oil shock occurred in the world due to decreased oil output in the wake of the Iranian Revolution.
Claiming they're coincidences is silly.
Besides, there have been many "oil shocks" since. Things like several major wars in the mideast, refineries in the US burning down, etc. Not a single gas line resulted.
Also, when Reagan repealed the price controls, the Saudi oil cartel promptly collapsed.
I remember that day. The gas lines disappeared LITERALLY OVERNIGHT and never returned.
That was more a result of the fact that, as you mentioned, it was the 1970s gas crisis.
The handful of wars and revolutions that took place in the Middle East, in which the US certainly participated to some extent, caused global oil shortages.
I remember when Reagan repealed gas allocation and price controls. The gas lines disappeared the next day. Not the next week, or month. The next day. And never came back.
Quite a remarkable coincidence?
Of course there were gas lines at times in the 70s – there was an artificial limit on the price of gasoline. And the supply was repeatedly cut to almost zero, as oil exporting countries nationalized oil companies, went through violent revolution, or embargoed countries who militarily supported Israel.
Carter had announced a plan to phase out Nixon's price controls, and Regan removed them after he beat Carter.
There's no evidence of that.
> there was an artificial limit on the price of gasoline
Such price controls lead to shortages.
> the supply was repeatedly cut to almost zero
That never happened. There was plenty of domestic production. And there were gluts in Florida simultaneous with long lines in California. This is explainable only by allocation controls.
> Carter had announced a plan to phase out Nixon's price controls
Yet he didn't. Reagan did, as his first act, with the stroke of a pen. Reagan didn't phase it out. He just ended it. Prices didn't go up, either. None of the predicted calamities happened.
The gas crisis was a fake crisis caused by government price and allocation controls. We've never had gas lines again, despite plenty of oil shocks, such as multiple MAJOR wars in the middle east.
Aside from the fact that the price of oil was 4-5x in Europe compared to the US.
>> there was an artificial limit on the price of gasoline
> Such price controls lead to shortages.
That was the whole point. You constrain the price so everyone can afford a little of it, rather than a small percent affording for of it.
>> the supply was repeatedly cut to almost zero
> That never happened.
OAPEC literally embargoed countries that financed Israel (hello, United States) for months at a time. Great for Texan oil companies! Bad for everyone else.
> Yet he didn't. Reagan did, as his first act
His first act was literally in movies. His 2nd act was keeping the Black Panthers from arming themselves in CA. At least his third act was negotiating dirty deals with Iran. The Contras hadn't offered enough money yet.
> such as multiple MAJOR wars in the middle east
Oh, those wars where Western armies marched in to secure oil fields? I can't imagine why Western oil companies would do well in that market...
Gas prices have always been high in Europe due to heavy taxes. And as I remarked before, when Reagan repealed the controls the price of gas didn't go up at all.
> to secure oil fields?
Saddam set them all on fire. It took almost a year to put them all out if I recall correctly. Don't forget the Iran/Iraq war, which lasted 8 years and devastated both countries, including devastating oil production.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War#Economic...
But no gas lines.
> That was the whole point.
I'm glad you understand that point. But you may not realize that what the person received in price controlled gas was more than made up for in many hours waiting in line to fill up. Having people pay in time waiting in line instead of pay in dollars is a terrible way to run an economy.
Another silly thing the government did was institute odd/even days based on your license plate. Instead of decreasing the lines, it increased the lines, because people would top off their tanks on Tuesday, just in case, because it was illegal for them to buy on Wednesday. Lots of people would wait for hours in line and buy a half gallon.
Reagan really did the country a great service by getting rid of that nonsense.