China’s attempts to defy the laws of supply and demand when it comes to coal is leading to shortages elsewhere in the energy complex Gas shortages have left many gas stations across the country running out of diesel Several gas stations in North China’s Hebei Province told the Global Times on Friday that pumps had been empty from days to even a week There is one recurring problem with central planning: the greater the level of intervention, the worse and more widespread the unexpected adverse consequences. Just two days ago, when we reported that Beijing had imposed price controls on its coal rationing , we said that the problem with such explicit subsidies which create an artificially low price, is that they don’t address the underlying problem (too much demand, not enough supply), but instead accelerate hoarding and lead to a run on the artificially underpriced commodity, forcing spikes […]