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gas prices are higher than ever. But gas guzzling SUVs are still flying off the shelves
They're not even close to their historic peak, much less "higher than ever." Adjusted for inflation, current gasoline prices are barely above their historic average. That's why "gas guzzling SUVs are still flying off the shelves." (I didn't know they kept new car inventory on shelves...)
Even I didn’t pay it any attention, until my Shell card bill came in the mail. Holy cow!! My monthly bill was 20% higher than last month and we drove about the same mileage as usual.
WTH? I thought all of this new “drill everywhere you can including in my driveway” type of hands off business friendly deregulation was gonna lower gas prices or at least keep it the same!
Didn’t think I’d see $3 buck gas this year. And don’t tell me about supply and demand because demand is no crazier now than it was last year. Save it.
Interesting I notice the biggest factor in global fuel prices is OPEC. Why are prices so expensive sometimes and cheap on other times?
Interestingly I noticed California kind of experienced its second energy crisis starting in 2013 when SONGs were shut down and large amounts of power need to be diverted to cover the loss of power generation of that plant. As in 2001 electric rates skyrocketed, however unlike back in 2001 there were no constant media driven panic about it. Nor are consumers, businesses, and government agencies taking drastic measures to conserve energy, possibly to avoid the threat of blackouts in addition to 400% higher bills. Though residents do notice their rates going up significantly over previous years. i.e from an average of .16 khw in 2012 to about .22 khw or higher starting 2016 And solar panels installation boomed quite a bit too. And amazingly we had no rolling blackouts.
Interesting I notice the biggest factor in global fuel prices is OPEC. Why are prices so expensive sometimes and cheap on other times?
Actually the biggest factor in global fuel prices is the state of the global economy. In good economic times, the price of oil (and energy in general) trends upward. In rocky times, the price trends downward.
But yeah, OPEC can create mini-trends oil by manipulating production. Sometimes they cut production to drive the price up. Sometimes they ramp up production to put competitors out of business. The 2014-15 price dip was largely the result of a market share war between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia; in particular the Saudis were looking to put the squeeze on shale oil producers. Unfortunately it worked and a lot of them went out of business, so now the Saudis are cutting back production again.
Seems we can always count on increased gas prices, increased deficit/debt, and wars when Republicans are in charge.
Really?
Quote:
Feeling pain at the pump? Gas prices have doubled since Mr. Obama took office. According to the GasBuddy gasoline price tracking web site, the price of a gallon of regular gas was around $1.79 when Mr. Obama took office. Today the national average is $3.58. The lowest average price in the continental United States is $3.31 in Tulsa Oklahoma, the highest is $4.14 in Santa Barbara, CA. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas has arrived on average throughout California, and a number of other states are headed in that direction.
Before he took office in 2008, Barack Obama vowed to end America’s grueling conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his second term, he pledged to take the country off what he called a permanent war footing.
“Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue,” he said in May 2013. “But this war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. It’s what our democracy demands.”
But Obama leaves a very different legacy as he prepares to hand his commander-in-chief responsibilities to Donald Trump.
U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama’s tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction. He launched airstrikes or military raids in at least seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. Yet the U.S. faces more threats in more places than at any time since the Cold War, according to U.S. intelligence.
Black unemployment fell to 6.8 percent in December, the lowest ever recorded by the U.S. Labor Department since it began tracking the black unemployment rate in 1972.
Even I didn’t pay it any attention, until my Shell card bill came in the mail. Holy cow!! My monthly bill was 20% higher than last month and we drove about the same mileage as usual.
WTH? I thought all of this new “drill everywhere you can including in my driveway” type of hands off business friendly deregulation was gonna lower gas prices or at least keep it the same!
Didn’t think I’d see $3 buck gas this year. And don’t tell me about supply and demand because demand is no crazier now than it was last year. Save it.
When you fill your car, you may have notice stickers saying that 10% of the gasoline consists of alcohol. What you don't see is the number of regional varieties of gasoline the "oxygenated" or "alcohol infused" gasoline are required by Federal and State regulations. These include requirements for Reformulated Gasoline. This link is a county-by-county list of reformulated gasoline requirements.
This site, Ethanol - Archer Daniels Midland, details that major corporations are the major beneficiaries of government-enforced largess. Rather than there being one competitive national gasoline market, the country is carved up into literally hundreds of separate markets.
This is corporate and farmer welfare that makes the benefits inner-city single single moms look utterly insignificant. I believe in capitalism and competition for all, not just for the hoi-poloi.
Also, the question is whether prices are high or not. I say they're right in between historical lows and historical highs.
In October 1972, a historical low since overall inflation had kicked up but gasoline prices generally not risen due to the impact of price controls, the general prices in my area were $0.37 a gallon, which works out to $2.18 per gallon in March 2018 dollars (link to converter). Prices were around $1.00 per gallon in January 1999, or $1.52 in real terms but that was for a very short period.
After the first period of gasoline shortages, in July 1974, with price controls in effect, the price of $0.59 per gallon (using the price at the Hess station, usually a discounter) would be $2.98. The price at the same station, now a Speedway, is $2.90, or $0.08 cents lower. Essentially the same as now, but that's comparing leaded then to unleaded now. The price of regular leaded in January 1981 was $1.50 per gallon, the equivalent of $4.09 now. And I am not using unleaded prices for 1974 or 1981 because the "big sign" price was always regular leaded.
Using unleaded figures, the price of $4.40 per gallon in July 2008 works out to $4.99 now. So is gasoline expensive? No.
I would say that over $3.50 per gallon it begins to be historically high.
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