Gas based economy
A conversation between my father and I:
Dad: “They’re price gouging us”
Me: “It’s just supply and demand”
D: “but the price of a barrel of oil is lower than it was before the hurricane”
M: “but the supply is lower and more people are buying it”
D: “They should have a cap on the amount they can make off of it”
M: “If people stop buying it, the price will go down”
D: ::Walks downstairs to continue watching Fox “News”::
M: “Welcome to capitalism”
I’m starting to hear that some towns are running out of gas. The strange part is, I’m not hearing about any drastic shortage in the supply of oil. Hell, they just released the country’s oil reserves and lifted the EPA restrictions on refineries. So, why are stations running out of gas? Paranoia. At least this is my theory. I keep hearing “the price of gas is going up, better fill up now” – this means that gas stations are hearing “people think that the price of gas is going up and a ton of people are buying now” this quickly translates into “people are buying gas in droves, raise the price!”
This is basic economics, people: the same or lower supply + higher demand = higher prices. I bet we could make a pretty bell graph out of this (with an SUV slowly climbing up the incline of the graph no less). I wish I had half a tank of gas left so I could ride out this curve – my prediction is that the price is going to drop after everyone tops off their tanks and slow down their fuel burning a little. The problem is, I actually need to fill up, my tank is almost empty and I am driving somewhere this weekend – blah.
But I’m not bitching about the price of gas – and not just because I’m driving a Prius. I’m not bitching because it makes perfect sense for this to happen when you depend so much on a scarce resource. Now, if this was clean water – or food, or something that we actually needed to survive – i would be complaining. But I know that I can get by on very little or no gas. If I have to, there is public transportation or biking or ::gasp:: walking. At the moment though, I’m going to pay $3 for the 45+ miles that I will be able to drive with it.
I will also shed no tears for those who needlessly drive SUVs and other forms of suburban assault vehicles. And maybe, just maybe this will knock some sense into people.
September 3rd, 2005 at 12:47 am
$3 for 45+miles. i’d pay $6 for that i’m not complaining yet. some people are getting 10 mpg.
it is so strange that ppl piss and moan about the prices of gas. then they get on the freeways and interstates and go 75 mph. yeah, burn that gas people! Is getting to your destination 10 minutes earlier really worth it?
September 6th, 2005 at 1:36 pm
Exactly. I set my cruise at 5 over the posted limit and just go. I got over 50mpg on the way to Rochester doing that this weekend.
May 22nd, 2007 at 4:37 pm
it just plain sucks.tell a certain person his policies suck and he and his buddies double the price.it`s the principle of the thing.they raise prices not because they need the money,but because they can.times were when gas went up $.02 or $.05 cents a gallon,now it`s $.25 to $.50 cents a gallon.AND AS I SAID THEY JUST DO IT BECAUSE THEY CAN.REVOLT DON`T DRIVE…..EDDIE