You are about to see magic again.

The magic is the matter of supply and demand. It is not really magic. But it seems so, because too many of us cannot be bothered to read any history. Too many will not pay attention even to recent history like the 1970’s.

In the 70’s oil sold for a low price. So gas was cheap. Neither had gone up with inflation. In other words there was a lot of supply.

And so, magically, demand grew. People drove big cars and trucks. They bought Winnebagos. They towed cars behind them. And boats behind the cars.

As demand grew, OPEC put on the screws. Demanded higher prices. Slapped an embargo on oil to punish us for supporting Israel.

In other words, supply shrunk, demand increased. Prices rose.

Everybody went crazy. Jimmy Carter slipped on his sweater. He dialed down the thermostat in the White House. Told us the country was sunk. Told us to forget about increasing supply. We could not drill our way out of this one. Told us most oil would be gone by the end of the century. (That was the official prediction from his administration.) Various other bleak folks predicted economic collapse. The government poured fortune into synthetic fuels.

Meanwhile, our consumption slowed. We insulated more. Bought smaller cars. Drove less. Tried car pools.

Miracle of miracles: Prices rose, demand slowed.