Gas Prices

[skhara]

To add to that. People in Europe have mass transit systems and they don't really need cars. Where I'm living, you can't get anywhere without a car.

[One-Way]

Pisses me off. Highest I've seen around here is $3.10-$3.20. Makes me wanna cry.

[Siggie]

I pumped yesterday for 3.299

[Siamanto]

Gas prices are rising, boohoo! It's just the way supply and demand work, and all you need is a crisis like the Iraq fiasco, or the hurricane that will only cause a jolt in the market.

People in Europe have been paying high gas prices far longer than Americans, and I think this whole whining about gas needs to stop. Adjust your lives. Spend less on needless shyt, SAVE, and it'll be fine.

It's not about how much others pay for gas, it's about what is the impact of relative higher production costs on the overall economy and the existing equilibrium. It is also about relative price/indicator movements, orchestrated price movements and bubbles.

The problem is the artificial boom caused by the Fed's inflationary policies and it's credit expansion which has spurred this artificial growth, and people are running around spending, spending, spending, like there's no tomorrow. It's time to realize there is more to the economy than just spending, there is a thing also called saving.

Of course, a reasonable level of savings - relatively compared to income - indicate an economically healthy climate and excessive debt - again relatively compared to income - indicates risk. But, please keep in mind that since corporate spending dried after the market crash/recession, consumer spending remained the main engine of the economy.
In any case, inflation remained moderate and reasonable - both CPI and PPI - but income have depreciated - unfortunately, I don't have accurate data covering all sectors and at least a decade.

Also, the latest market crash and recession was in part provoked - at least facilitated and accelerated - by Greenspan's obsessive fears of the risk of possible inflation - that never happened.

PS. For the record, a certain level of Indebtedness. is considered as a positive by the financial markets. The threshold depends on the sector of the industry. The same applies to consumer credit ratings.

[Siamanto]

People in Europe pay higher gas prices not because they get the gas for a higher price, but because they pay more taxes on gasoline and it goes towards a NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PLAN! I have countless family members living in Europe and I've heard the same thing being said on radio.

To add to that. People in Europe have mass transit systems and they don't really need cars. Where I'm living, you can't get anywhere without a car.

- Free Education System and high quality. For a couple of hundred dollars a year - including registration, tuition and other benefits - anybody would afford college.

- Decent Social Reinsertion Programs and Unemployment Benefits.

- Properly maintained cities/streets. Despite high local taxes, New York City is so poorly maintained, I was not impressed by other cities neither.

- etc. etc.

[Anonymouse]

It's not about how much others pay for gas, it's about what is the impact of relative higher production costs on the overall economy and the existing equilibrium. It is also about relative price/indicator movements, orchestrated price movements and bubbles.

I have no idea where you're trying to go with this, but my only point is that gas prices are high because of a reason. I often here people complaining of how the "big oil" companies are somehow "screwing the people", and "gouging" prices. Corporations don't make up prices simply because they are "greedy" or what not. The great truth in economics is that prices are set by the demand of the purchasers, and the supply of that good. In the case of oil, it is a non-renewable resource. From a purely economic perspective, high prices aren't bad but only attest to the scarcity of the resource and the demand of that resource. So there are two reasons for the increase: because of the scarcity of the resource and in the difficulty of obtaining due to disruptions in the Middle East; and the rise of demand by countries such as China and India.

Of course, a reasonable level of savings - relatively compared to income - indicate an economically healthy climate and excess credit - again relatively compared to income - indicates risk. But, please keep in mind that since corporate spending dried after the market crash/recession, consumer spending remained the main engine of the economy.
In any case, inflation remained moderate and reasonable - both CPI and PPI - but income have depreciated - unfortunately, I don't have accurate data covering all sectors and at least a decade.

Also, the latest market crash and recession was in part provoked - at least facilitated and accelerated - by Greenspan's obsessive fears of the risk of possible inflation - that never happened.

PS. For the record, a certain level of Indebtedness. is considered as a positive by the financial markets. The threshold depends on the sector of the industry. The same applies to consumer credit ratings.

How the rising prices tie in to the whining of consumers is exactly related to the artificial boom by the Fed. We are still not outside the risk of the soft depression of the 21st century. The U.S. used to be a creditor nation but in 1987 the U.S. became a debtor nation. China is now a creditor nation. It was because of Greenspans easy money scams that money was lent at a rate at or below the level of consumer price inflation for more than two years! What better lure to get Americans to borrow and spend at record levels? People are used to the cheap easy money policies and the borrow-spend-bankruptcy servomechanism. Thus, when things like the price of oil rise, consumers are bytching about it.

To my knowledge (which isn't that great) only Keynesianism proclaims debt or indebtedness as somehow positive. Even then, you may have something in terms of private sector. After all, debt and credit are wise tools for individuals and businesses, but government is not an individual, nor is it a business. A government like the U.S. that consumes 40% of the most productive economy in the world and can't balance its checkbook, is a government that vastly overspends.

[One-Way]

What's up with it rising higher every day now? It used to be $3.10 and today I saw some gas stations with prices as high as $3.40!

[Thai-Samurai]

If gas prices go any higher I'm gonna sue Ford for inventing the car. Then I'll buy all the gas I want.

[LadySilver]

I was talking about this with a friend since I drive and I pay for my own gas. He said that he believes that we have all the oil we need. The only problem is that we don't have enough oil refineries. He mentioned something about it taking 20 years to get one approved. I don't know how much truth there is to that but it's just a thought.

Also at some gas stations there have been people who sell gas at about 6 dollars. As an excuse they say that it is a way of driving people away from the gas station because they don't have enough gas. Wouldn't a better solution be just to close the gas station instead of putting up misleading prices?

[One-Way]

Making gas more expensive at a certain gas station is illegal.