IT'S JUST A QUESTION OF WHETHER WE GET THE PROFITS OR DICTATORS DO:

I Have Come to Praise High Gasoline Prices, Not to Lower Them (IRWIN M. STELZER, 3/16/11, Weekly Standard)

First, high gasoline prices will help wean us off oil coming from countries that use the money we send them to finance terror attacks and the preaching of the doctrines of radical Islam. They will help us to import less, and increase the incentives to conservation and domestic investment in exploration and development. No, they won’t make us energy independent -- that is a ridiculous and anyhow unattainable goal. But they will enable us to curb consumption, and to rely more for what we do use on countries that have no desire to see our political and social system consigned to the dustbin of history.

Second, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is not the answer. Sure, it might bring a temporary drop in prices, but we live in the long-run, not the short-run, no matter what John Maynard Keynes said about us all being dead in the long run. But the SPR should be reserved for times when supplies are cut off, such as in an embargo.

Third, the pinch caused by high gas prices can be offset by another cut in payroll taxes. Instead of attempting to roll back gasoline prices, reduce payroll taxes again and either get those checks mailed promptly or the fatten the pay envelopes immediately. That would offset any threat high prices pose to the recovery, while at the same time preserving the benefits of high gasoline price.

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