I liked how when people here started buying diesel cars the price went up to above that of gas. I can't remember why they said it was, but they played it off like it was increased demand. Normally, it'd be all like 'fair enough', but then you look at the numbers and think about it - the increased demand in diesel is all consumer grade (like a 5% spike if I remember correctly), and it's the most widely used commercial fuel source here...basically, it's a drop in the bucket as far as demand curves go - not nearly enough to call for a massive price shift in the range of 20-30%.
I'm not entirely for strict government regulations on price setting for things like gas usually. Mainly because I'd rather see stricter regulations on things people absolutely need like medicine first (sure, we all need gas but if you drive a 5.4l V8 for no reason you can go fuck yourself before I'll listen to you bitch about gas prices). That said, it's blatantly clear that the government isn't even forcing the gas companies to abide by long standing legislation already in place. Every once in a while there's a huge outcry as people have to cancel vacations and shit (Wait..what?) and the government pretends to have a formal investigation into industry wide practices. The result is always the same - no evidence of price gouging, anti-competitive behavior or illegal levels of collusion. Yet, the common-sense based evidence is blatantly in front of our eyes. Price setting? Check. Collusion? Check. Anti-competitive behavior? Check. Record profits? Check.
