Oil ‘raids’ and the Free Market

By Leon J Williams

The offices of several oil companies have been inspected by the European Commission which include BP and Shell. The inspections were unannounced to the companies, hopefully catching them by surprise before any evidence can be shredded.

The ‘raids’ which took place in the UK, Norway and the Netherlands happened after allegations were made that the companies colluded to keep oil prices higher than they should have been for more than a decade.

The European commission said the alleged price collusion, which may have been going on since 2002, could have had a “huge impact” on the price of petrol at the pumps “potentially harming final consumers”.

Milton Friedman once said: “Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.”
Of course this is absolute nonsense, it’s not a lack of belief in freedom, it’s a lack of trust in the corporate world!

There are countless examples where had it not been for government regulation the ‘free market’ would have hampered competition and worked against the interests of the consumers, making costs higher for ordinary people and profits higher for the corporate world, leading to a much more unequal planet.

The free market is a world without freedom.