Marx's Role in Gas Prices

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqjFBiPMmBE

Given the title and subject of this thread, this seems relavant. :)

Seems to me that oil supply is not and has not been a factor in gas prices. Speculation on the commodities market seems to drive it more, along with restricted refining capacity (which is driven by both big oil and the environmentalists).

The best thing we can do as consumers is reduce our demand. Our "octane footprint" (just made that up). Drive an econobox instead of an H2. Buy more stuff from the farmer's market and less from the Wal-mart. That sorta thing.
Not only will you reduce the pinch, but you'll eventually force a correction.
 
What good will buried Alaskan oil do us if economic dislocations that are taking place as a result of keeping it there cause the nation to collapse into a quivering heap along the model of Weimar Germany?
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I guess I just don't see the imminent collapse you are seeing. I still see people driving around in big vehicles. I don't see many car pools. I see minimal increase in mass transit. Wal Mart is still doing great, and Disney World is still packed to capacity. People really have not changed their lifestyles very much. In fact, the only big change is that people are bitching more about gas prices, but I remember the same thing when gas broke $1 per gallon twenty or so years ago. I don't think gas prices have reached the point at which demand will begin to decrease. I think there is still room for speculators and oil companies to drive up prices before demand decreases. The sky isn't falling, and consumers are willing to pay more than $4 for a gallon of gas.
 
I understand that as prices increase, some people will struggle. However, their struggle is outweighed by the national interest. One day we will absolutely need the reserves in Alaska for national defense and self preservation.

There are solutions to the consumer's problem, but, of course no one wants to hear them. For example, a minimum wage earner probably should try to live closer to work than 20 miles. If he lived less than a mile, he could walk, which would cut his fuel cost to zero, and also help his health. Bicycles are popular transportation in other countries. Mass transit is another option. Of course, everyone here thinks they should be able to drive a 4 wheel drive SUV that gets 10 miles per gallon. We have been encouraged to guzzle gas by oil and automobile companies. Until that paradigm changes, we are stuck with our current problems
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Great ideas...have you done any of them?

I live 11 miles from work. I have 15 years with my employer, and getting a new job so I can be closer to home is problematic with the slowing CA economy and my skillset. I cannot afford to buy a house closer in a place I care to live.

Riding a bike would work, if I want to spend even more time doing the work thing, don't mind arriving in a sweat in summer, soaked in rain and/or survive the bad drivers.

Wonderful thoughts...how many do you do?

Or is this just for the lower life forms who dance to your elegantly devised solutions of how they should live? And do you expect everyone to live just as you do, comrade? No one should aspire to anything else?

Oh, and how do you know what I think I ought to be allowed to drive, wizard? Been spying on me? How many people on this site have you polled to make your statement, or are you just a bigot with an opinion of clingy people who like guns?
 
I realize that my comments are unpopular, I said that when I began. I am not trying to legislate how anyone lives. I am only pointing out alternatives that use less fossil fuel. If you don't want to adjust your lifestyle to accomodate high prices, no problem. Just don't bitch about high prices when you are driving 20 miles to work in an SUV.

Personally I think gas is still too cheap. If it was too expensive people would be consuming less and would be more open to carpools, mass transit, etc.
 
after reading , and replying on this thread i sat back to watch the science channel and relax.
within the first two minutes we are told of the most recent robotic gizmo we are sending to mars to look for water. it will join our other rovers which havent done diddley except take nice pictures of a barron world.
the current estimate for the latest effort is $500,000,000.00. we dont know what the final cost will be.
Now, i might feel differently if they were looking for oil..........
is it just me, or do any of you think this is money better spent on THIS planet?:confused:
tom
 
Playboypenguin
Oil should not cost what it does and OPEC is not setting the price. Where the oil comes from is irrelevant if the cause of the price increase is not dealt with and supply and demand has nothing to do with the current prices. Production is steady, supplies are constant, and demand is down. So ask yourself..."why is price up?"
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Wow, I actually agreed with something you said. (Checking to see if I have a fever).

benign.neglect
Personally I think gas is still too cheap.
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That has always been the position of the left, which I disagree with strongly. High gas prices may seem like a good idea to some, but the truth is that high gas prices hurt the American economy and high gas prices hurt the American people. I don't wish to see the American people suffer to satisfy the self-righteous dreams of a "self-proclaimed" environmentalist.
 
Oil should not cost what it does and OPEC is not setting the price.
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The price of crude oil is determined by futures traders on the three major international petroleum exchanges: the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the International Petroleum Exchange in London (IPE) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX).
 
High gas prices may seem like a good idea to some, but the truth is that high gas prices hurt the American economy
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I agree the economy would suffer in the short term. But after suitable alternatives are put into place, the economy would thrive.
 
Personally I think gas is still too cheap.
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Too cheap or not, in light of our technology, nothing is gonna spur the market to find new more efficient ways to heat and power ourselves than a bit of pain...consumer pain equals less profits.

No pain, no gain in capitalism.


WildsomeofthersponsesheremakemelaughAlaska ™
 
is it just me, or do any of you think this is money better spent on THIS planet?
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It was spent on this planet. It went to engineers, designers, craftsmen, metal workers, truck drivers, security officers, payroll personnel, etc., etc., etc. :)

The only thing on Mars is about $100 worth of scrap metal.
 
More people are starting to wonder ...

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/28/markets/oil_prices/index.htm?postversion=2008052815

Demand down, dollar up, and oil is still climbing. Note the person quoted that is bullish on oil prices is from Morgan Stanley and they are long on oil (literally). Sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy when the big investment banks are tauting $150, $200 or more per barrel oil prices all the while they are pouring huge amounts of money into the market buying more and more calls.

I think that when/if this bubble bursts it could be a dozy (might make the subprime thing look like small potatoes -- of course it is largely the same cast of characters involved).
 
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harrys ghost

Where do you come up with such dribble? It is clearly the tree huggers, the granola eaters, and the liberal dems driving up oil prices. Not the conservative republican suits in charge the the investment companies. ;) :)
 
Perhaps 2 to 3 cents huge difference for sure their competing.
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Maybe with in one town. But consider this. All of the following towns are in central Minnesota and within 30 miles of each other. Eagle Bend on the south is 20 cents cheaper the the rest. Sebeka on the north is 10 cents cheaper, Wadena located right in the aproximate center (north/south) is the highest cost. For this much difference with in 30 miles... Something is going on.
 
Those price differences are due to location and market. not competition. A gas station right off the interstate here is more expensive than one in the suburbs and ones in the DT area of the city are super expensive...regardless of brand.
 
Those price differences are due to location and market. not competition. A gas station right off the interstate here is more expensive than one in the suburbs and ones in the DT area of the city are super expensive...regardless of brand.
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In other words. they charge it because people will pay it...
 
Re some posts, "you can't drill your way....", one wonders as to why the congress has essentially prohibited drilling/exploration off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the LOWER U.S. for 30 plus years.

Also, within the last few years there was a spate of comment about a really significant deep water (20,000 plus feet) oil find in the Gulf of Mexico, as I said there were some news stories, then nothing, the thing fell completely off the radar screen, so to speak.

One wonders as to what happened. Did this "discovery" turn out to be a dry hole, that happens sometimes, or are other considerations involved. One wonders.

As to last weeks "grilling of oil company executives" in the U.S.Senate and House of Representatives, I submit that DOG AND PONY SHOWS are an apt description for what went on.
 
Indeed. Price is driven by demand not, for instance, cost of production. (Of course, you will stop producing something if the demand won't pay above the cost of production.) This is why, to give a couple of examples, SUV and trucks are (have been) so lucrative for auto companies, it costs so much to go to a college bowl game, and ticket prices at pro sporting events don't fluctuate with the payroll of the team.

It works the same with oil.
 
The knowledgeable gent on C-SPAN said that if the Congress announced regulations requiring judicial oversight of the dark corners of commodity trading on oil that the price would drop to $80 per barrel almost instantly.
I would like to see this tested.
 
The knowledgeable gent on C-SPAN said that if the Congress announced regulations requiring judicial oversight of the dark corners of commodity trading on oil that the price would drop to $80 per barrel almost instantly.
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Probably closer to $40 before it stabilized.
 
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