Lawyer-Wearing-Yarmulka

What is it about gas prices that makes otherwise normal and intelligent people say stupid things? Over the weekend I heard various acquaintances blame high gas prices on nefarious plots by either Al-Qaeda, ExxonMobil, or Saudi Arabia. One friend proposed that we take all of Iraq's oil. Another said we should boycott certain oil companies in an effort to drive down prices by starting a price war.

I've bemoaned the lack of knowledge of basic economics before, and I think it's even worse among Orthodox Jews. Someone who knows at least the basics about supply and demand and monetary policy understands why gas prices are going through the roof. Someone who went to a Yeshiva high school and Touro College is going to believe conspiracies.

Cheap shot on Touro! I've found that the ones who go to YU, Brooklyn, Queens, and the rest are equally as clueless... oy.

Note: It's not just Jews, either. The most interesting point I've heard on the subject was a friend who wondered how high it needs to get before switching to hydrogen-powered vehicles - at some point it becomes more cost-efficient, no?

Ez - not sure about hydrogen per se, but I've heard that the cost of certain alternative fuel sources gets cheaper than petroleum at somewhere near $50/barrel. I think the point was being made that we are well past the point of cost efficiency to research and develop alternative energy sources, and aren't nearly as far along on that as we should be.