>Yea , go ahead and gripe about the price of gas and hope that the oil
>companies loose their ass, then while you are out of a job you will have a
>lot of time to not have to drive anywhere. A lesson on the economics of oil
>prices, High prices at the pumps, lots of contracts and material is bought
>thereby supporting industries workers make more money which lets them spend
>more on their hobbies which lets the people who make the products for their
>hobbies make more money and etc. etc. etc. We have the cheapest gas in the
>world, but I guess we really need to have it lower and then we can also
>become the lowest paid & highest unemployed country.
>
>Leo
>-----Original Message-----
Leo,
What about the higher prices for goods due to transportation costs that
high gas prices cause? Contracts and material bought by whom, for whom, and
from whom? Since we export a lot more oil than we produce domestically, it
seems like high oil prices would push our already high trade deficit even
higher. Personally, I think we should have higher gas prices despite all
this, but not due to high oil prices (this means taxes, and I hate that,
but I'd rather a federal gas tax than a federal income tax...not like
they'd reduce one in favor of the other...) ,for the following reasons:
1)Discourage SUV sales.
2)encourage LBC restoration.
3)Reduce consumption of gasoline, which will strengthen our national
security by not having us worry over every middle east crisis, and which
will be beneficial to the environment.
4)Allow motorists who claim they "pay for the roads" (when cursing cyclists
or pedestrians) to see how much paying for the roads really costs.
5)Encourage people to live closer to where they work, reducing traffic and
suburban sprawl/inner city decline.
And I'm sure there are other reasons.
I'm not really a social engineer, but if the government is going to engage
in it anyway, that's what I'd like to see, but not to as punitive an extent
as the European countries do (where driving is for the well-off). If gas
prices were two dollars a gallon, and my income taxes less, I'd be much
better off, and so would most people, as long as they don't want to buy a
new Canyonero 4X4, or as long as they don't own a gas station...
How many billions of dollars did Exxon make last year? I worry sometimes
about them going under...=)
Isn't there someone on this list who owns a gas station?
Nevin
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