Public jobs would be so much easier if politicians could repeal the laws of economics, and some of the more obtuse keep trying. Today's lesson comes from New York and New Jersey; they are both suffering from severe gasoline shortages a week after superstorm Sandy.
 
In a dozen counties in the northern and central regions of the devastated Garden State, Republican Governor Chris Christie imposed gas rationing over the weekend via an emergency executive order. Nearly a million houses or about a quarter of the state still lacked power as we went to press, and demand for gas is surging for generators and pumps as well as transportation. Lines stretched for miles and hours at those service stations that did have power.
 
Drivers with license numbers that end in odd numbers can buy on odd days, and vice versa for those with even plates. For a state so regulated that even in normal times it doesn't allow drivers to pump their own fuel, this disaster rationing is probably the best we can hope for. At least Mr. Christie understands that if markets aren't allowed to allocate a scarce resource through prices—the optimum solution—temporary government controls are the only other option.
 
That was in notable contrast to Governor Andrew Cuomo's New York, where 730,000 homes remain blacked out and the gas supply is also deficient. "Fuel is on the way. Do not panic. We don't need anxiety. We don't need the lines," the Democrat said Saturday, before disclosing a plan to distribute "free" gasoline that came courtesy of the federal government.
 
The idea was that every consumer could pick up 10 gallons of gas at no charge from trucks stationed at armories across greater New York City and Long Island. Mr. Cuomo apparently didn't learn in freshman economics that when something is "free," you often get a surge of demand for it. He created the very panic he deplored.
 
Lines promptly stretched for miles as the National Guard was unprepared for the crowds and chaos. They had to turn away motorists even as emergency vehicles and first (or second and third) responders lacked the resources they needed. Mr. Cuomo then had to importune the public to wait until the most urgent needs could be filled. He's lucky no one was hurt.
 
Meanwhile, cooler heads have helped to ease the crisis by easing federal regulations, albeit too slowly. At the end of last week the Environmental Protection Agency finally waived rules about anti-pollution gasoline blending that were restricting supply, a lesson that should have been learned from Katrina.
 
Washington also waived the Jones Act requiring fuel tankers to pay a tax before unloading cargo between U.S. ports. The waiver is making it easier to ship more oil faster from the Gulf of Mexico to the Northeast, proving once again that the Jones Act should be repealed in toto.
 
That's no doubt too much to hope for, but perhaps someone can teach Mr. Cuomo the law of supply and demand.



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