[Morrigoon]

To add: if nothing else, the limited supply would cause the same "big brother" government to have to control how fuel is used, allocating a certain amount to consumers, and a certain amount to industry. Well, with fuel limited, production (of other products) will be reduced, which means it's both unnecessary and unprofitable to keep all their employees on, so folks will find their hours cut or get laid off, making it even MORE difficult to purchase gas.

Now mind you, I'm not talking short-term price controls (though even short-term ones would negatively affect business decisions about whether to open or move operations to California), because with prices fluctuating for event after event, this would be an almost continual problem. How do you determine what is market forces, what is inflation, and what is gougeing?