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Hi, Bill. Les Singer here. I’m really pleased to have you on board as head of my Policy Group. I know you just finished an assignment working for Congress, spearheading the Energy Committee’s gas price control legislation—and several members of Congress have told me that your work was critical in getting that bill passed. While the legislation is supposed to help ease the strain of high gas prices, the Department of Energy now needs to figure out the details. I’m counting on your group in a big way.
As head of the Department I know how to run a large bureaucracy, but I really don’t know much about setting the price of gas. I know how important gas is to our economy, but not much else. So here’s where I need your help. The legislation says that we have to set the price of gas and make sure high-priority users get the gas they need. I’m not sure exactly how this all works, but I’m told there could be distributional concerns that come with a ceiling on the price of gas, and this sure looks likely.
I’m already getting phone calls from people who are worried that a price ceiling will produce shortages and not everyone who wants gas will be able to get it. Here’s what I’m thinking. If price controls will produce gas shortages, then we might want to set prices based on who we think should get gas. Let’s set the price of gas so that high priority groups can get all the gas they want, medium-priority groups can get most of the gas they want, and low-priority groups will get any gas that is left.
Of course, this means we will have to do some ranking to see who should have priority. I’ll forward a sampling of phone calls we’ve been getting from groups of consumers who want gas. I’ll also fax over a worksheet I designed to help with the ranking. The worksheet has 25 points to allocate among groups who have expressed their concerns. If there is anyone else who you think should be included, please add them to the list. With this point scheme we’ll be able to see at a glance who should get gas, and who might not get it.
Let’s discuss your rankings when I get back. I’m sorry I can’t be there to welcome you aboard in person, but the President needed me to give a speech in Guadalajara—sure wish I’d taken Spanish in high school!