What Government Can Do to Reduce Gasoline Prices
By David Holcberg

In "No government intervention--please!" (Orange County Register, Oct. 27, 2004), Mr. Taylor argues, from a free-market perspective, that government should do nothing to reduce current gasoline prices. In a sense, Mr. Taylor is right: it is not the business of government to control the price of gasoline (or any other product). But what about cutting gasoline taxes, eliminating regulations mandating gasoline blends and freeing energy companies to drill at will? Any of these measures would contribute to increasing the supply of gasoline and reducing its cost to consumers. Moreover, all of these measures would be consistent with the government's only proper role in the economy: protecting the rights and property of producers and consumers.