Exchangeable Coupon Gas Rationing

During the gas shortage in the winter of 1973-74, farmers were high on the priority list for gasoline allocations. Under the proposed exchangeable coupon gasoline rationing, this allocative machinery and priority system would be superseded by a coupon resale market. The exchangeable coupon resale market is examined from the perspective of a consuming household and of a producing iu;m. The conclusion is that the coupon resale market will ration gas among the same uses that a higher market price would-the difference being not one ofallocation ofgas among alternative uses, but one of redistribution of income. The amount of income to be redistributed is estimated in the neighborhood of $28 billion per year.