An economist emerges in support of the McCain-Clinton gas-tax holiday

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In the midst of the recent debate over a "gas-tax holiday" over the summer, the Huffington Post tried to find a single economist who thought the idea had merit. There were none. Last weekend, George Stephanopoulos asked Hillary Clinton to name an economist who supports her proposal and she responded by saying she doesn't trust economists.

So I was delighted to see Bryan Caplan, an associate professor of economics at George Mason University, step up to the plate in a New York Times op-ed today to argue in support of the McCain-Clinton idea. Well, that's sort of what Caplan did.

At the outset, Caplan concedes that economists and the Obama campaign are entirely right about the facts.

In the short run, the supply of gasoline is basically fixed; it takes a while to build a new refinery. The demand for gasoline, in contrast, is more responsive to price; we're already seeing greater use of public transportation and brisk sales of fuel-efficient cars. When you combine fixed supply with flexible demand, it's suppliers, not demanders, who pocket the tax cut. That's Econ 101.

So far, I pretty much agree with the consensus. Economists might overstate the rigidity of supply — it's possible that eliminating the tax could spur producers to find a way to squeeze out a little more gas — but they're probably right that the Clinton-McCain proposal will not shrink the price at the pump.

Remember, this is a defense of the idea.

OK, so if the "gas-tax holiday" won't save consumers any money, and will boost oil company profits, why does Caplan approve? He has two reasons.

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