The end of Oil and other resources on planet Earth.

[Fixer]

[quote="Metzgirl";p="486488"]I heard Tom Friedman, Pulitzer prize winning columnist, arguing that the government should raise US gas prices to 5dollars/gallon.[/quote]
Good thing he's a writer because he'd be a horrible economist.

Short-term price fixing by the government should ONLY be done to protect fledgling industries. Long-term price fixing shouldn't be done at all, as the only people who suffer are the consumers. Reduction in consumer confidence reduces spending, which slows the economy. When the economy has sufficiently slowed down, it slips backwards and causes deflation which eliminates capital investment and growth. An environment is created where no one wants to invest money because they 'make money with no risk' by holding onto it. The poor become broke (because no one wants to hire or pay out and prices are too high), the rich become richer (because their expenses are usually fixed in nature), and the middle people start polarizing one way or the other depending on their expenses.

Yeah... Pulitzer Prize winners should stick to writing.

[Deacon]

[quote="Deacon";p="486497"]or you're remembering incorrectly[/quote]
I'm putting my money on that one. Friedman's not an idiot. Metzgirl I'm not so sure of...

[Fixer]

Deacon, was making such a personal attack really necessary?

[Metzgirl]

Well, here's a link to the site talking about his apperance:

http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2005 ... a_main.asp

Throughout the show he was stating that prices should be raised to 4 or 5 dollars/gallon. Listen to the program if you doubt me.

[Blaze]

Then he made a terrible mistake. Perhaps he was drunk.

[HTRN]

If the price of gas goes to three bucks a gallon, they're are going to be huge economic impacts.

The cost of shipping will go up, alot of people will either lose or have to quit their jobs, the economy will slow down, etc, etc...

And to be honest, I don't see the point. Unless EVERYBODY on the planet decides to go on an oil free lifestyle(not likely, especially China) it would only serve to commit economic suicide.


HTRN

[peter-griffin]

why don't you just put "HTRN" in your sig?

[HTRN]

Because it annoys Blaze.


HTRN

[Martin Blank]

A transition is important. If we flipped all the power plants to nuclear over the next, say, 25 years, it would allow training for existing plant personnel as they shut down older, heavy-pollution plants, and provide less expensive electricity as scales of economy kick in (modern plant designs are modular and designed for something similar to factory-line production). More cars will become hybrid and even fully electric, running off of fuel cells, perhaps, and the US oil market will shrink to cover plastics and the few gasoline cars left on the roads. The average lifespan of a car is about ten years, so most of the current generation will be off the road by then.

But that requires a commitment that many are not willing to make.

[HTRN]

There's two problems Martin. One over half the domestic power generation comes from coal, and coal is fairly cheap. The second problem is the "N" word - Nuclear. Ever since Three Mile Island, it's been a bugaboo of everybody who lives within a hundred miles of one. You're simply not going to get local approval of it. The Number of reactors in this country is starting to fall as they reach the end of their service life and aren't replaced.


HTRN

[mikehendo]

If the US had gas prices as high as the rest fo the world, that would just motivate more people to be vehicles with a higher MPG.

[Blaze]

[quote="mikehendo";p="486900"]If the US had gas prices as high as the rest fo the world, that would just motivate more people to be vehicles with a higher MPG.[/quote]

You know, most people would think that, but the buying of SUV's, particularly LARGE ones like H2's, is on the rise.

[mikehendo]

Then those people deserve to pay more for gas.

[StruckingFuggle]

[quote="Blaze";p="486902"][quote="mikehendo";p="486900"]If the US had gas prices as high as the rest fo the world, that would just motivate more people to be vehicles with a higher MPG.[/quote]

You know, most people would think that, but the buying of SUV's, particularly LARGE ones like H2's, is on the rise.[/quote]

Uhm, Blaze, wtf, did you read Mike's post? o.O

[HTRN]

I drive a Suburban and by you're logic people in Honda Civics should pay more for life insurance because they're more likely to die in a car accident.

The reason the price of gas is so high in the rest of the world is because of taxes.

If anything, the price of gas should be lower. Gas should only be taxed with the states retail tax. Unfortunately, the government knows that people will accept whatever charges they will slap on.

Oh, you people might find this interesting. While the retail price of gas continues to climb the wholesale price just dropped from .58 to .50 cents a gallon....

The distributers are getting rich...


HTRN