Wisconsin's dumbest law (and there's a lot of competition.) A new study from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute puts a price tag on the state's minimum markup law.

*Wisconsin’s minimum markup law adds $990 million to the annual price paid by consumers, between $267 and $278 million of which is beyond what a normal profit margin would yield.

*Wisconsin motorists currently pay 30.2 cents per gallon as a result of the minimum markup law. As a result, minimum markup has almost eclipsed the state’s 32.9-cent auto fuel tax, which is currently 9^th highest in the nation.

*As the wholesale price of gas grows, so does the amount per gallon motorists have to pay as a result of minimum markup. In January of 1998, when the wholesale price of gas was 64 cents per gallon, the minimum markup stood at 5.9 cents per gallon. In July of 2008, the wholesale price of gas stands at $3.29 per gallon, with the per-gallon minimum markup amount at 30.2 cents – an increase of 400% in ten years.