Topic: Economics
The Parable of the Thermometer Lowering gas prices has become a theme of sorts for both major parties, and complaining about their rise is now a national sport. But trying to manipulate price is like trying to manipulate the mercury in a thermometer....by Tully
(libertarian)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
It was hot summer. A long, hot, dry summer. As the temperatures soared into the 90s, and then the 100s, TV reporters warned against outside activity, dehydration,and heat stroke. Men went shirtless, and women wore about as much clothing as they'd wear on the beach. They began adjusting their behavior, engaging in outdoor activities only at night, or under protection of cloud cover. They began drinking (for the first time) appropriate amounts of water to keep hydrated.
It wasn't pleasant, but people adjusted. But as they adjusted, they still longed for the old days, for cooler temperatures. One day, a prolific blogger asked, "Why can't we just readjust all of our themometers?! After all, the problem is the heat! And when I go to my thermometer at mid-day, it reads 106 degrees! If we could get the thermometers to read 65 degrees, we'd be comfortable again!
And so the political campaign began to recalibrate thermometers on achosen weekend. Impatient, some folks simply broke the glass tubes and poured out half the mercury in them.
On Monday, it appeared that the campaign had worked! As people rose from their lunch tables, they looked at their thermometers, and were esctatic to see that they all read somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees!
They hurriedly put on their long pants, shirts, and jackets, and plunged into the outdoors to undertake their favorite chores, chopping wood, working in the garden, even playing a little soccer in the treeless fields.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, the Emegency Rooms quickly filled with people suffering heat stroke, shortness of breath, and heat exhaustion. Some seniors never left the hospital that day, except for transport to the city morgue. Chaos and confusion reigned, as people expected 40 degrees and planned on it, only to be slammed by the reality of 106 degrees. What they wore, and what the did, completely mismatched what Mother Nature was supplying, in spite of their efforts to control the level of mercury in the thermometer.
In the end, it was decided that the thermometer was not the problem, it was simply the messenger....and to avoid its message, or to artificially change it because it was a tough one to hear, was done at their own peril.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Tully only and do not represent
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