Fuel subsidies bad for the economy

REGARDING your leader ‘Soaring price of oil — The real cost of energy dependence’ (May 31), media pundits and politicians have been giving a variety of political explanations, reluctant to accept that the underlying cause is simply that of supply being unable to meet demand, nor do they understand the technical difficulties of increasing oil production.

Meanwhile, OPEC, the oil companies, governments and Joe Public play the blame game.

Worldwide, the response of governments to protesting truckers, fishermen and motorists, egged on by the media, is to absorb the price increase with subsidies and tax reductions. However, all are equally affected and can just pass the cost on to the customer. Too many trawlers, not enough fish, and too many truckers chasing too few customers are the real factors depressing earnings.