Everyone wants cars with better gas mileage. The question is how to get them.
Left-wingers believe the best way is by government regulation. Order the carmakers to raise fuel economy to an impressive figure.
Right-wingers say there is a better way, "the invisible hand," or the free market. The logic is simple: If carmakers want to stay in business, they will improve fuel economy by themselves because it is what the customers want.
Perhaps--and only perhaps--fuel economy regulation may have made sense in the past when gasoline was cheap. This time, things are different. Gas prices may retreat from $4 per gallon, but we no longer need the government telling car companies to build more-efficient vehicles. In fact, the regulations may make it more difficult for manufacturers to accomplish this task. It is time to junk the rules.
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