12th June, 2022.
Right … it’s official.
Petrol theft’s going up. Petrol theft from garage forecourts.
At least, going by this piece.
I’m assuming the companies that run petrol stations are going to start complaining about that.
But … ?
Given the raining cost of fuel, I’m not surprised it’s happening.
I’m also thinking of a Terry Pratchett character: Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh Morpork.
In one of the novels, Sir Terry gives us a bit of insight into the Patrician.
Before Vetinari gets the job, Ankh Morpork was suffering with a huge infestation of rats.
And offered a bounty to anyone who caught a rat: amateur and professional alike. They just had to bring in the rat tails to claim the bounty.
The city immediately started handing out a suspicious high number of bounties.
Vetinari, when he was appointed, came up with a solution: in a line that tells you a lot about the city and the character.
“Tax the rat farms.”
OK …
I know forecourt economics are complex: involving taxes, profit margins, a lot of hedging, and lord knows what else.
But I can’t help but think petrol station companies have a (relatively) simple solution … lowering prices.
Granted, that’s going to cause problems: especially when staff don’t get paid.
But?
Well …
Lowering prices, introducing a price cap or taxing the rat farms, seems a temptingly easy answer.
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Just in case your following my Star Trek Discovery reviews?
I caught the penultimate episode on Friday: and released my written and video reviews, last night.
Enjoy them.
~≈👽≈~
