Are we that stupid?

[odinn7]

I still see no reason why the price jumped 20 cents in two weeks...Someone must have needed a raise...

[Jay]

*BUT*, the technology to use that water as a fuel is not, and whoever develops that technology stands to make a *LOT* of money,

Whomever comes up with a commercially viable alternative to fossil fuels and can patent the process and cut out reliance on OPEC and the middle east is going to be making buckets'o'cash all for themselves.  Any company with an existing clientelle and distribution infrastructure (such as a US big oil company) is *highly* motivated to make that happen because they are the ones that can best capitalize on it.


I still see no reason why the price jumped 20 cents in two weeks...Someone must have needed a raise...

Think it through.  Prices at each point along the line are set by different people, starting with OPEC and ending with the local pump.  That's why at the beginning of the first Gulf War, some local stations got slapped because *they* decided to raise prices, before OPEC or the big companies had.  All those big companies are in competition.  If Shell raises prices and Texaco doesn't, then Shell gets cut out, so Shell can't do that unless it's more expensive for them to get the oil in the first place  and they have no choice.  But if the price goes up at *every* pump in an area, then it's either a) collusion/price fixing (which is illegal) or b) something upstream from the oil companies, like OPEC or shipping costs, or possibly some reaction to the commodities market or whever oil and oli futures are traded (just a WAG on that one)

Which as much as the Bushes have been linked to Big Oil of some sort or another, if a) was even possible, the Dems would have been raising a stink to high heaven over the last decade and a half about it.  

Ockahm's Razor says otherwise.

[wickednick]

I'll admit I know very little about economics (I probably misspelled the word) but the way I understand the the raise in oil prices over the years is this.
One of the big reasons are oil prices are higher now than 30 years ago is inflation.The dollar is just not worth what it was 30 years ago and the oil companys have had to adjust the price of gas to match that.
Anouther reason why we pay more is because we earn more money now than we did 30 years ago. Today I believe minimum wage is 5.75 an hour. Back when my dad was growing up getting payed 5.75 an hour was considered a decent wage.
There are lots of reasons the price of oil has jumped up so high in the past few weeks. One of them is supply and demand, anouther is the war in Iraq. The prices will hopefully go down in a few weeks and life will be back to normal.
Now corect me if im wrong please and don't call me stupid if I made some invalid points, these are just my opinions.

[raj]

You did forget that China is becoming a large consumer of oil; we're starting to compete with a billion Chinese, and they aren't riding bicycles anymore.  Gasoline prices in this country, when you take into account inflation and purchasing power have been pretty flat (except for when Saddam invaded Kuwait)

[ulthar]

wyckednick wrote:

> One of the big reasons are oil prices are higher now than 30
> years ago is inflation.The dollar is just not worth what it was
> 30 years ago and the oil companys have had to adjust the price
> of gas to match that.

> Anouther reason why we pay more is because we earn more money
> now than we did 30 years ago. Today I believe minimum wage is
> 5.75 an hour. Back when my dad was growing up getting payed
> 5.75 an hour was considered a decent wage.

I think these are the same thing...we earn more now because of inflation.  If not exactly the same thing, they are certainly closely related.

[Gecko Brothers]

Give it a rest this was mostly a point to show how stupid some people can be!

[R.Kupo]

Ummmm, the thing with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it happened for real. How am I sure? I'm from Texas!!

[odinn7]

"Ummmm, the thing with Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it happened for real. How am I sure? I'm from Texas!!"

Sure, sure...I remember reading about it in the National Enquirer...right...
It is fitting that you posted this under this subject.

[Writer]

Well, judging by responses so far, I'd say no, people on this board, at least, are not that stupid.

Let's face it: post-apocalyptic stories are fun, especially if they're about the guy who just happens to have a lot of stored goods and a ravishingly beautiful female on hand. That most of the stories are based on junk science doesn't much get in the way of people's enjoyment.

A somewhat more believable story involving global warming was AI: Artificial Intelligence. Notably, this movie was not post-apocalyptic but dystopian, being more a story about humans doing themselves in gradually through mindless pursuit of pleasure than about any sudden catastrophe. The only thing that struck me odd about it was that near the end, an ice age had apparently overtaken the world. Roasting followed by freezing? What's up with THAT?