The price of gas is getting to the point where the government is going to have to act. Whether that's smart or not is not the issue. The public is not going to stand for $5-a-gallon gas. Business Week notes some of the steps under consideration. One is to reclassify the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as speculators, which subjects them to more trading limits. A bevy of probes are underway. There is certainly some populist support for such measures; none other than George Soros struck a populist note when told congress that speculators were feeding the price hikes. But a New York Post columnist notes there are some hedgers that aren't complaining. Southwest Airlines had the guts to lock supply when oil was trading at $50 a barrel. Amazing move. But it's folly to think you can keep that up.

For more:
- here's the Business Week article
- here's the New York Post column