True. And no harm taken. But the point is worth saying over and over again.

People in this country are very, VERY apathetic when it comes to the economy, politics, or military as a whole in this nation. It is, and always has been, about the individual; "What can I gain from this situation?" Few have the interest of the entire nation in mind.

There are several things that the government can do to decrease the cost. Just like you said, basic economics, increased demand and steady supply will drive the cost up. What can you change there, increase supply? Well, yes but with very limited effectiveness right now. Decrease the demand, mainly through our military spending. We are fighting a war abroad that is destroying American lives and families. Also, increase the research for alternative fuels; we know that there are better things out there besides corn oil.

In the end, I am a firm believer that we need to take care of our own nation before we can even attempt to be the world police.

As an individual, you can start a recall to remove incumbent politicians. It has happened before and I'm sure that it will happen again.

 

Good analyst video... rough times ahead.

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/play...nce&ch=1316259

 

We have pasted the halfway ponit on available oil in the world. If this is true there is no way oil prices will decrease. Americans in general need to have a reality check on what the cost of fuel is going to be in the very near future.
If you and I know this why is our industry so shy when it comes to increasing the cost of flying from point A to B?
The Cruise industry began increasing the cost of a cruise by about $50 per person and while on a recient cruise I didn't hear one person complain about it.
With regard to the goverment getting involved, I cringe at the thought. I still have a picture of the most poweful leader in the world asking the Arabs to increase production in the hope of lowering oil prices. Have we resorted to begiging by our leaders to acheive something that is inevitable.

 

Well I see lots of people complaining about $3.00/gal gas while they drink $4.00 lattes and $1.00 bottles of water (both of which equal approx. $25 and $8 per gallon respectively if you work it out)

I figure if you want to pay $1.50/gallon of gas; find a friend to share yor commute to work. Want to spend $1.00/gallon; find 2 friends! Whatever happened to carpooling? (I know it's not practical for some, but I'm sure it could be for many others!?) Or, how about trying to plan out your errands to be more efficient (one big loop rather than back and forth!?) - People will drive 10 miles out of their way (spending $5.00 more for the extra gas) to save a buck on an item on sale.

I still see a lot more "we" can do as well!

On the aviation side of it, well I guess it's ticket prices and Int'l travel for the time being!? Or coconuts! How did Virgin's flight go, any results yet!?...

 

Until people reduce their consumption and realize they don't need cheap, easily replaced crap to keep them happy oil will remain high. I'm amazed at how much people complain about these prices, yet don't flinch at filling their SUV to drive from the suburb to the city every day while their neighbor does the exact same thing to drive to their job in the building next door.

Speculators driving the price of oil up won't help anybody in the long run, including the speculators. Sooner or later something is going to give, and the economy will be in such a horrible state that the price of oil will fall on it's butt as well.

In the mean time, we need to start finding a realistic replacement. Ethanol isn't the answer. One severe drought and you're not only affecting our food supply, you're affecting fuel supplies.

 

Sadly we Americans rely on cars to transport our fat arses down to the local strip mall 10 miles away to get our Starbucks fix. Luckily for many Europeans, public transportation, train networks, etc are vastly superior to what we have here, as well as city planning designs that are pedestrian friendly and dont require one to travel far for basic services.

Gas prices will rise regardless. It's time to start downsizing our cars and bad habits.

 

Europeans have these things because their cities were not designed to cope with vehicles. If you look at most older cities in the US (New York, Boston, Chicago) they often have very good mass transit systems.

Another huge problem with such systems in the amount of initial investment required. Many times cities have tried to get public support for mass transit systems only to be shot down because of the tax increase required.

 

Yes, oil companies pay 41% of their pretax profits back to the US government. Exxon alone paid well over 30 Billion dollars in those taxes in 2007. The government is not about to cap oil company profits.

I don't pay taxes in Europe, but I'll bet higher gasoline prices there are due in large part to higher Government taxes.

 

Exactly - Back in 1997-99, the dollar to pound was around $1:1.5 pounds(1.7 in '99). Gas was also around and approaching 4 pounds/gallon over there then (so well over $5 US then!) However, it has and probably always will be much more expensive as you said due to higher gov't tax. Remember though, you want Nationalized healthcare and such that has to come from somewhere! There's a reason why there's a 40% VAT (Value Added Tax) on everything over there! BTW - I was paying $1.69/gallon (no foreign VAT) for the same gas that was over $4.00 on the other side of the fence!

 

That is interesting how you tied oil prices in with nationalized health care. I fail to connect the two. It's about what the government spends its money on...a war with a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 or health care for the entire USA for many years. Tough choice.