Let's imagine a baker, a popular maker of scrumptious pastries. He gets up early each day and spends hours concocting our favorite confections, and puts them in his shop window for sale.
After the hard work he has put in, he then gets a consignment of flour from his local supplier and is horrified to find that it has increased 10 percent since his last delivery a few days ago.
So what does he do? He thinks hard and decides that he must pass some of this cost on to his customers.
Reluctantly, with the next day's batch of cakes, breads and pastries, he increases the prices to offset his increasing costs. A reasonable thing to do.
What he does not do
IS INCREASE THE PRICE OF THE GOODS HE HAS ALREADY BAKED.
Yet this is what the gas stations appear to be doing, almost on a daily basis. Gas price is increasing, yet it's the same gas they had in their storage tanks yesterday; should they not keep the price at its current level until they receive a new delivery?
Can they refute this?
Can they justify this?
What do you think? Are we being gouged even more than is necessary?