European ministers call for profit caps on energy companies as Iran war drives price surge
Posted by F0urLeafCl0ver@reddit | anime_titties | View on Reddit | 11 comments
Infinite-4-a-moment@reddit
If there's a need for this, it's because there isn't sufficient competition. Deal with that and fix the issue long term instead of trying to set arbitrary caps in times of crisis.
ilawon@reddit
Competition in essential goods or services is fundamentally broken.
People and companies can't simply stop using energy.
Infinite-4-a-moment@reddit
Right, but they have to buy that energy from somewhere. And with sufficient competition, prices get driven down. Price caps have essentially never worked. I don't think I've ever seen a study from anywhere reputable that said price caps made things better on the whole.
ilawon@reddit
There are thousands of energy companies worldwide.
Explain why virtually all of them are either raising prices or being heavily subsidized.
SalvageCorveteCont@reddit
Because at the end of the day basically all oil is sold at auction. So when demand outstrips supply everybody bids more, causing prices downstream to go up.
You want to get around that, you'd have to do the whole thing strictly on assignment, and that isn't working at the international stage.
ilawon@reddit
My comment was in response to a "more competition would fix it".
Muldrex@reddit
Buddy I don't think the invisible hand of the market has been doing a real good job if you look at what that's been leading to over the past 100 years.
Infinite-4-a-moment@reddit
It really hasn't been an issue until the US stopped enforcing anti trust. Standard of living and life expectancy has drastically increased in almost every pocket of the world over the past 100 years. Like more so than any other period of human history. That certainly hasn't been achieved through strict economic controls. We just can't have 2-3 companies per industry where there is no incentive to offer better quality or lower prices.
Kendos-Kenlen@reddit
Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Austria. Major economies in the EU.
Are they actually going to do it ? Or only talk about it as usual because not all countries agree with them? It’s time to act and take some leadership in this critical times.
Kartraith@reddit
5 net energy importers call for tax paid by net exporters to them.
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