The April 1 editorial supported strict limits on the ability of speculators to influence the price of gasoline. Extremely rich people are driving up the price of crude oil by buying futures contracts, like bets at a craps table. These gamblers, or speculators as they prefer, are an integral part of an oil industry that handcuffs the guiding force of entrepreneurial competition and causes prices and profits to rise almost regardless of the law of supply and demand. This is one of many examples of corruption within capitalism, a literal mutation of the system. While some mutations are necessary in order for a system to evolve, others are simply grotesque and should be eliminated.
Ultimately, we control our personal costs by the amount we choose to consume. But when we choose to consume dramatically less as a group, the price should fall dramatically. It used to but now it doesn't. This type of speculation must be reined in before it causes permanent damage to the economies of the entire world.
It is rare that I agree with The Maui News editorial. I thank the editorial writer for publishing his sensible views on this topic.
Rick Tolin
Kihei
