Well this points out why when prices rise for things such as gasoline, people seriously consider other alternatives to getting around. This can be perhaps more fuel efficient cars, carpooling, moving closer to their job, or mass transit.

This is why subsidising things completely destroys the ability of people to properly consider alternatives. This holds for subsidizing electricity or any other kind of energy, for subsidizing health care or the prices of prescription drugs, etc. Of course using insurance as the third party paying for bills forms a cloudy cataract that obscures the real prices too.

Prices form information about that product which consumers use in their decision to buy or use it.

Steve