The Repercussions of $4 Gas

Crude Oil, taxes, and Precious Metals go up as Stocks & bonds go down. Stocks & bonds going down causes recession.

My Silver Dollar will now buy 5 gallons of $4 gasoline.
When I bought it (the Silver Dollar) it would buy 3 gallons of $2 gasoline.

When I first worked for Minimum Wage it was $1.00 an hour and would buy 4 gallons of gasoline -- that would get you 40 miles down the road.
Now I work (actually retired) for $28 an hour that will get me (at $4 a gal) 7 gallons of gasoline and 210 miles down the road. IMHO gasoline only costs 1/5 (20%) of what it used to cost.

 

For most people, the percentage of their personal income dedicated to buying gasoline at the pump is pretty small. Many people drive a good deal for pleasure, which they can cease doing, if necessary. So, I think the gas price can climb a good deal without a major negative effect. The climb has some positive effects as well. It causes people to conserve. It will bring about a speed in the development of alternative energy sources and and alternate forms of engine power (hybrids and deisels). It also makes oil exploration more feasable in places in the US where it would be too expensive to get the oil at a lower price. The free market can make us all uncomfortable at times, but if it is allowed to work, eventually we will all benefit from it.

 

As demand decreases so will the prices. Isn't it called the law of supply and demand? If we mess with it too much like dear Jimmy did when I was a kid there will be more to complain about than the price at the pump. That was a total disaster. There may not be any at the pump to buy.

 

> Just because people earn more money doesn't mean they have less debt, and thus more disposable income.

True, but I should sympathize with people who borrow money to buy toys and gamble?

 

maybe, juuuust maybe, $4 gas will wake up the short-sighted out of their dogmatic slumber...and we will drill for more oil, and we will build new refineries.

At least I'm hoping that bunch will quit allowing their obstinance to cause havoc to our economy--and bruise my checkbook.

 

So true; if, IF, IF, the gov't keeps it's grubby paws out of the cookie jar.

If not ("If we mess with it too much like dear Jimmy did---"), then we are in for one whale of a mess.

 

Bill, no one is asking you to feel sorry for anyone. But the wealthy aren't the only ones borrowing for the sport of consumption.

RBell....from your lips to God's ears.

Ken...I agree that we are putting too many eggs in the oil basket. But there are too few disincentives to wean ourselves off of foreign oil and also too few incentives for a combination of energy sources. For instance, there are too many that would stand in the way of Nuclear expansion for the purposes of energy sources. Living near the famed Oak Ridge, I see this constantly.

And I don't think it's running out of oil that's the problem. It's the fact that the price we pay, monetarily and geopolitically, in order to get the oil that is such a leviathan.

Two things scare me about government acting in regards the spector of national $4 gas. One is the govt doing something. The other is the govt doing nothing. I worry far more about the former than I do the latter.

 

Ken, when $4.00 gas hits you may have to feed your dogs Ol'Roy. :laugh:

 

That is highly Biblical (by appostolic example):

Acts 2:1 (KJV1611 Edition
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Yep, the whole church was 'in one place" in 'one Accord'.

 

Does that mean there were Hondas in Jerusalem at that time? :laugh:

 

My wife and I love where we live. We have a little paradise here in Florida just 15 minutes for the Gulf of Mexico. But it takes me one hour to drive to work. And I have a Lincoln Town car which isnt too bad because its all interstate driving and I'm getting 23.4 mpg.
But its getting too expensive (about $350-$400 a month for gas) so we decided to move closer to Tampa which I dont want to do but I have to.

 

So driving a big car is more important to you than living near the water? You pays your money and makes your choice.

 

However old the Accord is, that's about how old that joke is .

 

I know the joke is younger than me. I remember when I thought that 'in one accord' meant the early church was in agreement.

 

My husband is a salesman for a local fuel and propane company. He says that the oil traders are the ones that are keeping the prices high. It is not the companies themselves, but the middlemen.

 

There is nothing amusing about $4 or $5 a gallon gas. Whether it is the middle men or the oil company executives, who knows? Between that and the government, someone is being unjustly enriched off the backs of the American people. No one will think it is funny when that tipping point is reached. People will stop buying new appliances, cars, stop traveling, different homes, and going out to eat. When all these industries dry up, and even people with good credit cannot get a loan, then everyone will stop laughing.

This downturn is not on the cycle calendar. It was caused by pure greed. Greed on the part of the consumer shows up in houses they cannot afford, cars they cannot afford, and maxed out credit cards. Greed on the part of lending compnies shows up by lending to people who cannot afford the payments, and on the part of government by spending money we do not have.

We all pay for it in the form of higher prices and suffering retirement accounts for those of us who bother to save.

 

Does your husband sell propane and propane accessories? Is his name, Hank Hill? :laugh: