Veblen's Business Versus Industry

The "Business vs Industry" of "The Price System" of Gas

The fluctuation in the price of Gas at this point no longer has anything to do with the Industry.  It is clear in this photo with the price of premium gas at $4.49 that gas companies are financially functioning well.  Owners of several gas companies competitively race the prices offering customers random excuses that we have no ability to research for validation.  It is quite odd that this gas station in particular will post this price for premium and two blocks over the price will be 40 cents higher depending on the zip code of the area.  This form of competitive sabotage is not regulated and continues driving up the price of gas.  We as customers are then forced to comply especially in cities such as Los Angeles where typically the most logical means of transportation is a vehicle. The Business Leaders of the gas industry as Veblen describes would not be able to lower prices to accommodate those who can not afford the hike and if they did they would be drowned by their competitors.