Early Show: Rodriguez Laments Laws of Supply and Demand

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Prices shouldn't be set by supply and demand.  They should be determined by, well, what prices "should" be.  That's the innovative theory Maggie Rodriguez propounded on today's Early Show.

The Early Show anchor's unique take on economics came in the course of a segment on the falling price of gasoline.  Rodriguez lamented to co-anchor Chris Wragge that grocery prices weren't falling along with gas prices.  In Maggie's view, grocers who set prices based on demand rather than on what prices "should" be are the culprits.

MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: We have some good news this morning in these tough economic times. The average price of a gallon of gas has dropped below three dollars. This morning, AAA says that gas is $2.92 a gallon.  That's the national average, down from an all-time high of $4.11 just this past July.

And we are attributing this to of course the price of oil.  Soaring oil prices are going down and so are gas prices. But this is not affecting grocery bills, Chris, and that's because as long as there is demand, these grocers, they price their products based on that and not what they should be pricing them on.

Great point.  I'd suggest Rodriguez immediately contact Barack Obama and recommend that his administration establish a new department.  Call it the "Bureau for the Pricing of Goods Based on What They Should be Priced On." Perhaps Maggie would agree to serve as its first Commissar!