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when will it stop

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The_Dark Newbie

The_Dark

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Wages and gas prices are not tied together.. not closely anyway. Gas prices will go down when the oil comapnys stop raising them. It's price guaging. The USA's oil reserves are at their highest ever. Yet, fuel production is at a low. This is a tactic to keep the prices high. Sure, Crude is selling at $60 a barrell, but that crude wont hit the streets as gasoline for up to a year. OPEC understands supply and demand and they are playing on everyone's fear. I would not be surprised that the various terror groups are all paid by OPEC. Keep the people afraid.. make them hoard. People who are hoarding will pay the price you set.

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Mikielikesit Newbie

Mikielikesit

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well the gas prices in california or $2.59 a gallon, which for my little car a kia to get filled up is over $20.00 now. I thought we owned a gas station over there in Iraq now hmmm strange how things workout. These money grubbing oil companies which our presodent Bush is a member of good ole boys club who are doing this to us, these people have no thought or care for what is going on beyond there little world they start wars and stick it to john Q public. They have never in their lives ever had to worry about money or how the bills were going to get paid. they've never had to worry about if their sons or daughters were going to get killed in one of these wars they've started. I think if they had to worry about these issues their outlook on the world would be different or at least i hope it would be..............OK thats enough I'll get down off my soap box now

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Troy Spiral Contributor

Troy Spiral (13)

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The current prices need to be taken with a grain of salt. Adjusted for inflation, gas prices are "high" but not as high as we might think.

When they talk about "record high gas prices" its the same as them saying things like "Record High Down Jones Industrial Average" It does sound good for a news story.

Dollars have been worth less and less every year, so it follows that we will continue to have "record high prices" when looking at the big picture as a continuing trend basicly forever. (or until the goverment stops printing new money to pay its bills that they cant pay with their normal budget... yeah right)

Gas "price" doesnt mean a whole lot until you factor in inflation and average income. Gas is actually at a fairly reasonable price overall based on the average persons income historcially and adusted for inflation.

In the 30s the average gas price per year was something like 30% of the average U.S citizens yearly disposable income. At the all-time "high gas prices" of that hovered around $3 a gallon in todays dollars (late 70s, early 80s) the yearly cost for gas was around 15% of disposable income. These facts are not perfectly acurate i know , as im not writing a masters thesis, just pulling stuff out my ass at the moment.

Today we are at something like 7% of DI. Historically its fairly resonable. There has been a steady increse in prices recently , but nothing to write home about in terms of what previous generations have had to put up with.

Currently the US has some very strict importing rules. Many oil exporters abroad would prefer to send their oil elsewhere that have lower restrictions on what they will and will not accept. Domestic production that actually gets turned into useable gasoline at-the-pump in US markets is down overall (yes partly due to greedy oil companies, and OPEC/govermental fear hording) but also due to lots of restrictions on where they can drill and what they can produce and what sort of mixtures they need to put out. Even a lot of the oil companies that the USA basicly owns, or controls, in other countries cant put out the kind of production, or dont WANT to produce the types of blends the US wants, they'd rather sell to Asia and elsewhere. There is a global economic boom going on right now, we arent the only ones with money, and other folks are willing to buy, stuff we wont buy.

Also we have something like 15 different types of gas all over the country due to various state and federal regulations. This "custom gas" makes distribution hard..... omg... im rambling *shuts up*

And yes i do spend way to much time reading nerdy stuff like this on various news sites.

Maybe we might luck out and trick someone into building us a decent public transporation system if the prices keep rising.

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mallochai Newbie

mallochai

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In Alaska, prices have fluctuated between $1.80 and $2.50 at the midgrade level. I remember when I first got a car, all of three years ago, it was $1.20 per gallon in Kalamazoo.

I can still fill up my gas tank for between eighteen and twenty five, depending on how low I let it get, so I'm comfortable with that. I used to think that was outrageous... I guess I'm just used to things being more money than I want them to be, so I roll with it. Funny... it hasn't effected how often or far I drive either. Then again, everything is so spread out here, it's hard not to drive all the way across town several times a day.

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Vater Araignee Newbie

Vater Araignee

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$45.00 a fill up for me And I get about 450 mpt that's 25 mpg.

Its only going to get better for me I'm replacing spark plugs, getting strobe, changing the fuel filter, started using high performance synthetic oils, I'm going to punch my catalytic converter and run a straight pipe through its center, constantly checking tire pressure, and getting an alignment. When all is said and done I should start getting 30 to 32 mpg. There are lots of things you can do to increase your fuel efficiency. Try a bottle of carburetor or fuel injector cleaner.

Basic every day tips:

1. Make sure your tires are inflated to the correct pressure. Tests have shown that a 20% under inflation increases fuel consumption by 5%. In you average tire thats around 5 or 6 pounds and you wont notice it unless you train yourself to do so.

2. SLOW DOWN! Studies show that there is a 20% loss in fuel economy when cruising speed is increased from 55 to 75 mph. Also avoid rapid acceleration; the most engine effort is used for acceleration, and relatively little is used on maintaining cruising speed.

3. At low speeds, don't use the air conditioner, however when driving above 40mph, the air conditioner is more fuel efficient than driving with the windows down.

4. Every additional 100 pounds of cargo in your vehicle can cost 1 mile per gallon (mpg)

5. Try to maintain speeds between 35 and 45mph where possible. That is the rate at which cars have the best gas mileage.

6. Avoid topping off your gas tank. In warm weather, fuel expansion can cause an overflow.

7. Reversing your car immediately after starting consumes more fuel. Park it so that you do not require reversing after starting your car.

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Msterbeau Collaborator

Msterbeau

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:devil When will this bullshit stop; because its impacting my finances. Everyone else is also being impacted as well. gas goes up but our wages sure don't.

Fuel is not an unlimited resource. The days of cheap gas should have been over long ago. American's have been completely spoiled... The rest of the world pay's double or more what we do to limit consumption. Our turn is next. Deal with it. Go find and old Honda Civic and enjoy 40mpg. :cool

Sorry...not trying to be mean or harsh Crank... I realize it creates hardship, but if we don't limit things now...it's going to run out way sooner then if we had exercised restraint and intelligence in our nations energy policy.

On a related note... We cry about jobs going overseas... Guess why? Because of the pressure on manufacturers for cheap goods. We want everything cheap... there's a price for that.

End of rant....

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  • 2 years later...
Pandora Newbie

Pandora

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Used to be a speed demon, now I drive 60 on the highway, and 55 when that's the speed limit. I only lose maybe 2-4 minutes on arrival time, and I'm getting better gas mileage than ever. Driving slow also lessens the risk I'm going to die in a high speed collision. Though even at 55-60 mph the chances I wouldn't are slim.

Driving slow = more moolah in my pocket.

Glad I'm not European, they pay through the nose. Though most of their major cities have excellent public transportation. Bah I miss the NYC subway!!!!

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Shade Everdark Newbie

Shade Everdark

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Used to be a speed demon, now I drive 60 on the highway, and 55 when that's the speed limit. I only lose maybe 2-4 minutes on arrival time, and I'm getting better gas mileage than ever. Driving slow also lessens the risk I'm going to die in a high speed collision. Though even at 55-60 mph the chances I wouldn't are slim.

Driving slow = more moolah in my pocket.

Glad I'm not European, they pay through the nose. Though most of their major cities have excellent public transportation. Bah I miss the NYC subway!!!!

I always tell everyone that I hate needing to own a car, and that I miss, terribly, the Tokyo rail system. I mean, really, which would you rather, on your daily commute? Being able to read a book, or having to deal with stop and go traffic?

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Pandora Newbie

Pandora

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I always tell everyone that I hate needing to own a car, and that I miss, terribly, the Tokyo rail system. I mean, really, which would you rather, on your daily commute? Being able to read a book, or having to deal with stop and go traffic?

Exactly, and people watching is fun too.

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