The Cost of Oil.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

Rant's right about fission power.

 

Also, we're 8 years away from fuel cells in cars.  Toyota and Mazda are both pursuing it aggressive, and thats what their current timeline says.

 

It's been revised upwards from 10 years previously.

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Fuel cells?

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/fuel-cell.htm

[Stephen Joseph 0]

on a related matter

 

Meanwhile, the Labor Department reported that its closely watched Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in July, the biggest increase in three months. In July, overall inflation was driven higher by a big 3.8 percent jump in energy costs.

 

However, outside of food and energy, prices remained well behaved. The core inflation rate edged up by just 0.1 in July. This price category, which is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, was helped in July by a 1 percent drop in new car prices, the biggest one-month decline in more than 30 years.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Fuck this, I'm getting a barrel and a hose and going out at 3 AM dressed in black.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

lol

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I wondered why more people dont start running around in the middle of the night stealing gas.

 

Out in the middle of nowhere, with no cameras/lights or anything, you could probably get away with it as long as you had a solid place to stash the gas or put it in your car. Screw trying to steal it from a gas station and getting your liscense suspended which is the law in Maryland.

 

Hell, you could probably steal a few gallons here, a few gallons there, and no one would ever even probably notice unless their anal about recording their fuel milage.

 

I've been considering buying a gas cap with a lock on it..just because I've seen Wal Mart selling siphoning kits..

 

/This post doesn't endorse anyone stealing gas and I cannot be blamed for anyone getting in any trouble for stealing gas...

[MrRant 0]

Plus think of the side benefits of inhaling the fumes for 5-10 minutes while you are sucking gas.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Plus think of the side benefits of inhaling the fumes for 5-10 minutes while you are sucking gas.

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Somebody told me that you could stick a shop vac hose in the tank and suck it out that way, much faster albeit not very quietly, although I dont believe it, as I think it would do damage to the car, although I wouldn't be worried about an explosion..

 

I remember seeing the episode of Mythbusters where they tried to turn a shop vac into a jet engine by vaccuming gasoline, and they couldn't get it to work:

 

They learn that the motor is isolated from the air flow of the vacuum, to prevent similar explosions from happening. Even with a short, a spark would be no where near the fumes of the gas. So, they remove the safety feature by drilling a hole in the protective wall. However, after another experiment, they did not get an explosion because the air flow still did not go near the engine.

 

So um..yeah, Im still not advocating going around and stealing gas with a shop vac...

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Hydrogen.

 

The problem is that those companies "aggressively researching it" isn't nearly enough. The government needs to subsidize it so that we can begin shifting our infrastructure over to accomodate it (i.e. creating hydrogen stations, etc.), and that's going to take quite a bit of time. The clock is ticking.

[Slayer 0]

[Paul Stanley 0]

oh the humanity

[Paul Stanley 0]

That's what we need.

 

Zeppelins!

[Damaramu 0]

How can someone live off of minimum wage with gas and food prices going up?

[ZGangsta 0]

Someone can't. So join the army!

[SuperJerk 0]

However, outside of food and energy, prices remained well behaved.

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Between rising prices of food, gas, health care, and a record budget deficit, its a small miracle we have not seen massive amounts of overall inflation...

 

 

 

 

 

 

...yet.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

you can thank greenspan for that.

 

and healthcare is not a leader in price increases, its been all gas and food.

[Guest Ether]

It should be noted that, to help the Iraqi economy, the US subsidizes gas so that it is only 8 cents a gallon in Iraq.

[SuperJerk 0]

you can thank greenspan for that.

 

and healthcare is not a leader in price increases, its been all gas and food.

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Health care, a commodity needed by all people at multiple points in their lives, increases in price at twice the rate of inflation. Drugs, another commodity directly related to the health care field, rise in price at triple the rate of inflation.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8964523/

 

I'd also add the price of real estate to the list of things that are rapidly increasing in price.

 

All of these things are essential to our society. If the price of all of them continues to soar, its only a matter of time before increased prices spill over into other sectors of the economy. Add that to record budget deficits pumping extra $$$ into the economy, and an army of Greenspans won't be able to undo the damage.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

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Gasoline is also flammable.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

You missed my point Y2Jerk. What's been contributing to INFLATION overall has been food and gasoline. That is not the same thing as what prices have been increasing.

 

Both food and gasoline are constant consumption commodities with inelastic demand curves. We can only go so long without food and our cars can only go so many miles before a fillup. That is NOT the case with Real Estate and Healthcare costs, which we have some ability to substitute for based on price (we can forgo buying a new place, or we can take aspirin instead of going to the doctor).

[SuperJerk 0]

I see.

 

Let me argue though that while these two items are not leaders in price increases, as you've already proven, they are things which can possibly cause inflation in other (but not all) sectors.

 

The reason I thought real estate prices would drive inflation is because as real estate values go up, landlords will often (but not always) jack-up the cost of rent, due to the opportunity costs of renting the land vs. selling it. This doesn't make real estate as make-or-break as food and gas, but real estate prices seem to bite everyone in the ass somehow, eventually.

 

Rising health care costs hurt us not just as patients, but (because of medical entitlements) as taxpayers.

[BruiserKC 0]

Here in Iowa we have most grades of unleaded running around $2.50-2.60 per gallon. Blends with ethanol have fortunately always run less...about $2.40 per now. Ethanol blends should be more available across the country and not just in the Midwest. Contrary to the negative things heard about ethanol blends I've never had a problem with them.

 

But alternative fuel supplies...while they are the best idea (this way we can finally tell the despots and dictators of the ME what they can do with their oil) will never happen as long as we have a government beholden to the oil industry and the countless money that they throw at Congress and government on all levels each year.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

The government isn't beholden to the oil industry.

 

You're forgetting that CONSUMERS are making the decision to NOT SUBSTITUTE towards lower-fuel consumption alternatives. Our Demand for fuel products has gotten more price insensitive in recent years.

 

As a business, the oil companies are profiting because they can raise prices without drops in total profit. This is good business practice, as any business worth its salt in any industry maximizes their total profit. Duh. Its what businesses do, its not good or bad.

 

You want to blame the government? Don't. Blame American Consumerism for believing the SUV hype, and all the gadgetry we think is essential that runs on fuel.

 

I was able to substitute. I haven't bought gas in 2 months. But Joe Consumer is not changing their behavior pattern, thus proving that they're willing to complain, but its not bad enough yet to change their habits.

 

Death to the Oil-Government conspiracies.

 

Did I mention I was an Economist?

Edited August 22, 2005 by Stephen Joseph

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

You want to blame the government? Don't.  Blame American Consumerism for believing the SUV hype, and all the gadgetry we think is essential that runs on fuel. 

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He's exactly right.

 

In typical Canadian fashion, NDP Leader Jack Layton is promising a commission to regulate gas prices. This on the news that Alberta has a 7 billion dollar surplus this fiscal year.

[CanadianChris 0]

In typical Canadian fashion, NDP Leader Jack Layton is promising a commission to regulate gas prices. This on the news that Alberta has a 7 billion dollar surplus this fiscal year.

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Wow, is he ever barking up the wrong tree. The gas sellers are making no money off the price increases at all.

 

Typical NDP, though.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

I agree with everything SJ said except:

 

The government isn't beholden to the oil industry.

 

Bull. Shit.

 

Stick to your realm: economics.

 

The truth is, most of Congress is in the pocket of the oil industry, and that includes both sides of the aisle. Nothing government-wise is going to get done to solve our energy crisis until Congress makes it a priority to switch over our infrastructure to support new technologies. Toyota and etc. can research fuel cells all they want, but it's not gonna make a lick of a difference if things stay the same. Can't really use the cars when you can't fill them up, can you?

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I haven't bought gas in 2 months.

 

You must live somewhere with good public transport. That would be nigh impossible here.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

DC does have good public transport, but it's expensive as all hell.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

How much gas does a hot air balloon take?

[Perfxion 0]

Gas right now in Stamford, is 2.85 for the cheap shit. The normal stuff is 2.95 and up. I didn't bother reading Full Serv prices because why spend money so someone else can pump my gas.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

I agree with everything SJ said except:

 

The government isn't beholden to the oil industry.

 

Bull. Shit.

 

Stick to your realm: economics.

 

The truth is, most of Congress is in the pocket of the oil industry, and that includes both sides of the aisle. Nothing government-wise is going to get done to solve our energy crisis until Congress makes it a priority to switch over our infrastructure to support new technologies. Toyota and etc. can research fuel cells all they want, but it's not gonna make a lick of a difference if things stay the same. Can't really use the cars when you can't fill them up, can you?

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I will stick to my realm, and I can tell you, our government is ineffectice as hell, but it is not in the pocket of one industry.

 

This ain't the 1920s people