Gas coupon from 1979
Wow, this is a surprise to me: a gas coupon printed by the government in 1979, but never finally issued.
Ludwig von Mises Institute - Tu Ne Cede Malis
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Wow, this is a surprise to me: a gas coupon printed by the government in 1979, but never finally issued.
Comments (7)
Nat
I have nothing to say, since we are instructed to post civil comments, which is impossible when discussing Jimmy Carter.
Published: August 14, 2007 10:13 AM
Bill, Not only Carter.
Carter certainly deserves some blame for being an economic bozo and thinking he and 535 of his closest friends could price petroleum better than millions of consumers and hundreds of suppliers. But don't forget where it all started with Nixon and continued through Ford.
It was Nixon (The first neocon) who estabilshed wage and price controlls. Ford did the big doughnut to change it. CArter under pressure from the economic community gave in on Airline regulation but NOT on the bigger issue of petroleum.
Published: August 14, 2007 10:35 AM
Person
George_Washington's face? On a commodity-rationing coupon! Forget oil: his rotational motion in his grave could power our energy needs!
Published: August 14, 2007 12:11 PM
M E Hoffer
While the picture, of the ration stamp, certainly says much, is it, really, all that different from a FedRes Note?
And, in view of the recent piece on "Arthurdale", the same, Aren't we all living there?
Published: August 14, 2007 2:22 PM
Kevan Huston
Exactly. Which is what makes fiat currency so terrifying to those willing to stop and look behind the veil.
Published: August 14, 2007 7:17 PM
Play-Asia Coupons
Interesting. I wonder what "one unit" is....
Published: May 7, 2008 9:30 PM
George
The coupon was printed during the Nixon administration in 1974, not in 1979. Libertarian William E. Simon oversaw the program as head of The Federal Energy Office. (Google the TIME Magazine article from that time, "Coupons in the Hole.") The coupons were stored at the Pueblo Army Depot in Pueblo, Colorado until 1984. The Energy Department destroyed them in 1984, because they could trigger dollar bill change machines.
Published: July 16, 2008 1:08 PM