So, I found this on National Review:

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-taylor091401.shtml

They're right, of course, that rationing by price is better than rationing by order of claim, under normal circumstances. Does it apply here, though?

They leave out the nasty little detail, I think, that irrational demands for gas don't respond rationally to price increases; short-term panic demand is enormously inflexible, and they probably could have sold gas for $20/gallon without affecting the demand/supply imbalance at all. People sucked the service stations dry *anyway*.

Probably a better solution would have been for stations to refuse to fill up the tank of anyone less than a quarter empty, unless they stated they were headed on a long trip where they needed it.

Distracting everyone with economics: that's my game.