The Price of Fuel and "Catch 22"
When I learned
that the price of coal to generate electricity would go up because the
cost of natural gas went up because the industry had shifted from coal
to natural gas to hold down the cost of generating electricity, I was
reminded of the book "Catch 22," authored by Joseph Heller.
The main character
in the book is Yossarian, a bombardier stationed on the island of Pianosa
in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II. He has flown too many bombing
missions, considers himself crazy and wants out.
This is where
he first runs into the Catch 22 rule. You can get out if you are deemed
crazy but if you want out you are deemed sane so if you say you want out
you are not crazy and therefore you must stay in!
A sub character
in the book is Milo Minderbinder. Milo is a pure opportunist. He didn't
start the war but is simply trying to put it on a business-like basis.
He worships supply
and demand and the right of free men to pay as much as they have to for
the things they need. His schemes to make money deny his own troops the
supplies they need to defeat the enemy. His objectives to corner the market
and jack up prices on needed commodities are accepted by his superiors
because they share in the profits.
Those who wonder
what happened to Milo might find him at the center of the California deregulation
scheme. We can also look
for him at the table with those saying: "We are moved to charge more for
coal used to generate electricity because the price of natural gas has
gone up because we now use more natural gas to generate electricity to
hold costs down."
They would probably
say they didn't start the price escalation but are simply trying to "Milo
Manage" it so consumers can pay as much as they want for something they
In the end Yossarian
concluded there was no official Catch 22 rule but everyone thought there
was so there was one. He accepted Milo's extreme business practices because
he and his comrades faced daily annihilation. Their very survival called
for extreme measures.
were to return, he would be surprised to find the Catch 22 rules he endured
under an all-out war are with us yet and again. He wouldn't understand
our move toward mega-mergers and unregulated monopolies that encourage
In these more
civil times, he would be totally flabbergasted to find that the Milo Minderbinders
are writing the rules of deregulation economics.
Stork was executive
vice president of the Association of Missouri
Electric Cooperatives and a member of Three Rivers Electric Co-op.