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high gas prices don't curb demand, except to make people stay home, which hurts economic recovery.
Think about the long-term elasticity of demand with respect to price rather than the short-term. For example, as prices increase, the mix of Ford vehicles traditionally shifts away from truck-based SUVs to small cars. If gas went to ten dollars per gallon, say, hardly any truck-based SUVs would be sold, vs many more small cars.
Last edited by Hamish Forbes; 05-24-2011 at 06:30 AM..
A good highway system excuse used to work but now our roads are as bad as everyone else's who does not have ridiculous state taxes on gas. Our conditions of roads and bridges are some of the worst and godnforbid we should make inmates work the roads cleaning them so now they look like crap too. I know they do work them but not like they should be.
Everywhere I drive here there are road projects. I 40 near US1 South, US1 South at the new interchange, paving all over the place, and new infrastructure going in. Add that to the work done on 540 (not just the toll road, but all the non-toll stuff that was paid for). Our roads are pretty decent compared to most places up north, and we have very little traffic here for a metropolitan area of 1 Million Plus people, so I think it is a decent argument. You have to remember that this is one of the more rapidly growing areas in the country right now, so our infrastructure needs are much more than a place that has a mature growth rate, or a rate of decline.
I totally agree with your comments about our prisoners. I also think anyone who is accepting unemployment should be helped, but they also should be making contributions. There is waaay too much work to be done for people to be sitting on their azz collecting a check.
BTW: I filled up for $3.68 at my local station off US1, just north of Sanford. Most prices I see are in the low $3.70's, but last time I checked, we were (and have been) pretty much on par with National average.
Everywhere I drive here there are road projects. I 40 near US1 South, US1 South at the new interchange, paving all over the place, and new infrastructure going in. Add that to the work done on 540 (not just the toll road, but all the non-toll stuff that was paid for). Our roads are pretty decent compared to most places up north, and we have very little traffic here for a metropolitan area of 1 Million Plus people, so I think it is a decent argument. You have to remember that this is one of the more rapidly growing areas in the country right now, so our infrastructure needs are much more than a place that has a mature growth rate, or a rate of decline.
Yes but that is part of the issue. The State just keeps building roads and leaves them incomplete for years and then by the time they get around to building the rest the existing roads are crap and there is no money to fix them. Look at I-440 and all its bridges. Potholes everywhere and they put a little patch on it that works for a day and then the pothole is right back. They built "part" of I-540 and now are bulding the rest how many years later? Let's see how much $$ is devoted to keeping the existing up to par. My bet is very little. I pass over bridges on both 40 and 440 all the time that should be closed down they are so old and falling apart.
This state was at one time a leader in its roads system but now they are not and yet we still pay ridiculous taxes that are earmarked for the roads "supposedly" yet the Govenor and legislature steal the money every year to try and balance the budget.
Anyone with a serious interest in the price of gasoline in the Triangle or anywhere else might want to read the article in today's Wall Street Journal titled "Facing Up to End of Easy Oil." This talks about the decline of light oil and the need to rely on heavy in the near future, along with the difficulty and expense of extracting and refining heavy oil.
Regarding the need to suppress US demand in the interest of national security: "Global oil consumption, buoyed by skyrocketing demand in India and China, jumped . . . the second biggest increase in 30 years. Oil production in the Western world, meanwhile, is barely growing. That means the world is increasingly dependent on production from countries in the OPEC cartel, and particularly Saudi Arabia, its dominant member."
Looks like every place but where we live is dropping? We are heading back to the North Country June 13 and really really hope it stays at $3.50 OR less....
Looks like every place but where we live is dropping? We are heading back to the North Country June 13 and really really hope it stays at $3.50 OR less....
My girlfriend lives in Connecticut, and she was paying $4.50 a gallon a few weeks ago. But, back to NC, whenever I go out to Siler City and Asheboro, I generally find lower prices somewhere along the way. So I try to fill up when I am in that area about every two weeks.
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