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I know: It's definitely not price gouging (insult away, BTW)

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Columbo, Jul 27, 2006.

  1. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    OK, gouging or not, it still doesn't address the problem, and that is it's getting too expensive to fill up. Not every one of us drives a gas-hog SUV. Some of us have reasonably fuel-efficient cars and don't drive wastefully or take unnecessary trips. I really don't use my car except to drive to and from work and to the store and back, with occasional trips to the city pool.

    But public transportation isn't an option in our city (too small for that, too big to walk everywhere), I don't have the ability to develop my own electric car and there's little to nothing I personally can do to lower gas prices.

    So while all of you argue the free-market system and supply and demand, I'm over here shelling out big bucks I can ill afford to spend to get to my job and see my son.

    Let's keep our focus, shall we?
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Good post. This isn't 1974 when OPEC was having public meetings and deciding how much they were going to allow each country to pump, in order to drive up prices. But they do still restrain supply, even if it is a pretty weak cartel compared to what it was in the 70s. The Saudis have been amazingly flexible about allowing the other countries to cheat, but there have been some other factors that have weakened the cartel, too--the development of the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea, being two biggies.

    At this point, the problem is less a function of a good old-fashioned oligopoly--like OPEC--than it is that they can't pump the stuff and refine it fast enough to keep up with worldwide energy demands.
     
  3. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    But doing the things you talk about in your last graph won't change things immediately either.
     
  4. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    Ace, you are spot on. Have you seen the price of gas lately? Those yachts, private jets and flights to their vacation villas are going up. It is all about keeping up with the same quality of life.
     
  5. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    OK.

    Let's say someone drives 15,000 miles a year in a car that averages 20 miles per gallon. In my area, right now the average gas price is $3.05 per gallon. At that price it would cost $2,287.50 for a year's worth of gas. A year ago gas was $2.48 per gallon. That's $1,860 per year. A difference of $427.50 per year, or a bit more than an dollar a day.
     
  6. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    Just a hunch, but there are probably a lot more variables than that.
     
  7. alleyallen

    alleyallen Guest

    Good math example. Problem is, gas ISN'T $2.48 a gallon. And until it is, all my efforts at trying to economize go for naught while everyone else debates free-market economies. Like that actually helps.
     
  8. Columbo

    Columbo Active Member

    That's the essence of it.
     
  9. Columbo

    Columbo Active Member

    A serious question was posed that has gone unanswered:

    Is there ever such thing as price-gouging?
     
  10. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    I was just trying to point out that, despite price increases, the actual pocketbook impact is pretty minor.

    Also, debating free-market economies is about as much help as what most people are doing about the problem -- complaining. As consumers, we have no control over what gas costs. We have control over how much we purchase.
     
  11. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    So you're arguing production costs are static?
     
  12. Columbo

    Columbo Active Member

    Minimizing the impact of $1.20 a day coming out of your bank account is a little perilous.
     
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