LeadFistExpress
New member
Some of the answers on here, and the other related gas and oil posts, are like grade school economics.
Not buying gas for one day, if you could some how miraculously get all 300,000,000 Americans to do it on the same day, will not have much of an effect. People will still drive their cars. If they put off buying gas for one day, that it just that much more they will have to buy the next day. It will average out and the oil companies will not feel it one bit. If it has any effect, it will be on the gas stations and not the oil companies.
Short term boycotts will not affect the oil companies. It could affect other segments of the economy, like grocery stores, entertainment establishments, even your local gun shop. I am sure that a significant portion of their sales happen on the weekend. I know that I get paid on Fridays, and I shop on Saturdays. By not going anywhere, I am hurting other businesses, but it will not affect the oil companies.
Oil and gas are not luxury items. Like food, they are necessary for the functioning of the economy. Short term boycotts will have little effect because it is not a true measure of the demand of the commodity. Only long term reduction of demand will have any effect on the prices, and even that is not going to do much because the supply is artificially manipulated by OPEC. Sure, there are American companies that supply oil from domestic sources, but
If demand goes down, they as the largest supplier of oil, will cut supply to keep prices elevated. We as Americans need to reduce our demand. With less than 5% of the world's population, we use more than 25% of its energy production. Yet we still pay less for gas than many other countries. I have seen posts by members in Europe stating they pay more than twice as much per gallon as we do. Of course, we drive the most fuel inefficient personal vehicles on the planet. Perhaps we should sell our H1s and Excursions (as I saw one member state he owned) and start driving Honda Civics. Hell, I drive one and I am OK with that because I have my Harley when I want to look cool and I still get over 40 MPG when riding it.
Not buying gas for one day, if you could some how miraculously get all 300,000,000 Americans to do it on the same day, will not have much of an effect. People will still drive their cars. If they put off buying gas for one day, that it just that much more they will have to buy the next day. It will average out and the oil companies will not feel it one bit. If it has any effect, it will be on the gas stations and not the oil companies.
Short term boycotts will not affect the oil companies. It could affect other segments of the economy, like grocery stores, entertainment establishments, even your local gun shop. I am sure that a significant portion of their sales happen on the weekend. I know that I get paid on Fridays, and I shop on Saturdays. By not going anywhere, I am hurting other businesses, but it will not affect the oil companies.
Oil and gas are not luxury items. Like food, they are necessary for the functioning of the economy. Short term boycotts will have little effect because it is not a true measure of the demand of the commodity. Only long term reduction of demand will have any effect on the prices, and even that is not going to do much because the supply is artificially manipulated by OPEC. Sure, there are American companies that supply oil from domestic sources, but
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC said:OPEC nations still account for two-thirds of the world's oil reserves, and, as of March 2008, 35.6% of the world's oil production, affording them considerable control over the global market.
If demand goes down, they as the largest supplier of oil, will cut supply to keep prices elevated. We as Americans need to reduce our demand. With less than 5% of the world's population, we use more than 25% of its energy production. Yet we still pay less for gas than many other countries. I have seen posts by members in Europe stating they pay more than twice as much per gallon as we do. Of course, we drive the most fuel inefficient personal vehicles on the planet. Perhaps we should sell our H1s and Excursions (as I saw one member state he owned) and start driving Honda Civics. Hell, I drive one and I am OK with that because I have my Harley when I want to look cool and I still get over 40 MPG when riding it.