Gas prices

I've been meaning to post something about gas prices since I read an article the other day whining about the record profits being reported by big oil companies. (I did finally find an article that has something to say about their profit margins, comparing them to those of Google, Yahoo and eBay. As interesting as those figures are, I'd still love to dig up some stats comparing the profit margins of oil companies to their own margins from previous years.)

(Favorite quotation from the above article: "You as a consumer have three options. You have car keys, light switches and a thermostat. Use them judiciously." -- Robert Ebel, Center for Strategic and National Studies)

I recently read a great article that actually pinpoints what is probably the real issue behind the rising oil prices: not collusion between oil companies, not price gouging, but supply and demand. (HT: The Bard, of The Mercied.)

I wonder, our are elected officials so stupid that they don't understand basic economic principles, or are they too clever to admit to the general public that some of the problem is the government's fault, and some of it is consumers' fault, and some of it is just economic principles at work?