Gas Shortage Deals Another Blow to Already Struggling Independent Musicians
Originally published at The Free Market Musician
The real, economic reasons behind the gas shortage. No, hackers aren’t only to blame
The gas shortage has intensified over the last few days and major media outlets are blaming hacker group Darkside for the lack of fuel at gas stations in the southeast.
The Colonial Pipeline, which is responsible for transporting a massive amount of fuel from Texas all the way to New Jersey and across the east coast has been closed for almost a week due to a cyber attack.
While eastern states are just starting to feel the effects that come along with gas shortages (many Asheville stations are reportedly completely empty), many others have been dealing with this for months now.
In true Austrian economics form, I dive past what is ‘seen’ and delve into the ‘unseen’ below.
Increased Demand- The Mainstream Economist’s Scapegoat
Back in April, some local stations on the west coast began reporting on gas shortages. News outlets reported increased demand was to blame because people were coming out of hiding and beginning to travel more. They explained the gas companies were having trouble keeping up with demand.
While supply shortages can happen in pockets sometimes due to unrealized forthcoming demand, I started to see these shortages reported across the country as the weeks went on in April.
There had to be more to it.
Labor Shortage
Though increased demand can put stress on suppliers at times, in a heavily centrally planned economy such as America’s, other factors play a much bigger role.
We are now beginning to see the effects of the recent labor shortage, which has largely been unreported until now. When people can make more by staying home and receiving government money versus working at a restaurant, or driving a fuel truck across multiple states to refill a gas station, it’s no surprise workers quit their jobs.
Incentive is everything when it comes to employment, and entrepreneurs who need people to help run the different facets of their businesses can’t compete with ‘free’ money.
Even as employers increase hourly pay, offer more benefits like sign-on bonuses, and pay people just to show up for an interview, the labor shortage continues to intensify each week.
The causes of the gas shortage really began the moment officials enforced lockdowns back in 2020.
With such a dramatic dip in demand for gas, it doesn't take an economist to properly predict there would ultimately be a shortage in fuel tank drivers. If there’s a significantly decreased demand for fuel, there’s a lesser need for fuel tanks, and a lesser need for drivers.
This is where the gas shortage began.
As fuel companies struggled to keep up with new demand in 2021 due to a lack of drivers, and more incentive for workers to now stay home and receive money, the localized shortages in places like Nevada began spreading to other states.
The cyber attack, which often happens to already vulnerable and struggling industries, only exacerbated a problem that already existed.
The Battle Continues
As musicians finally get back out on the road to play live shows (artists earn the majority of their income from live music), this is just another of the many roadblocks they are up against as they try to earn an honest living.
As the live music industry slowly recovers, artists are dealing with inflation (aka a hidden tax on our money), higher food prices at the grocery store, supply chain issues, the possibility of the PRO Act being passed, and now fuel shortages.
A note to the central planners out there. Get out of our economy. Your policies are literally killing our livelihoods.
As major media outlets and their ‘mainstream economists’ who’ve probably never spent any time in the private sector continue to blame increased demand for these problems, remember to take a page out of Bastiat’s book (literally) and look for not only what is seen, but also what is unseen.
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