Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - Re: [internetworkers] price of gasoline

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Ron Thigpen <rthigpen AT nc.rr.com>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] price of gasoline
  • Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:13:48 -0400

Beckett wrote:

Somebody help me out here. I am trying to figure out whether the latest huge spike in the price of gasoline more closely resembles:

not to jump on anyone here, but i'm really tired of hearing about the high price of gasoline. i guess it makes good headlines, but it just ain't so.

in constant dollar figures, the price of gasoline is far from spiking. there's actually a slight downward trend with a small local maximum. that maximum is likely to subside in the short term.

some historical perspective here:
<http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/gasol.htm>

if you'd like to roll your own, bring it up to date with these numbers:
<http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html>
specifically:
<http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/pswrgvwnus.xls>

you can use these conversion factors to adjust for inflation:
<http://www.orst.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/cf166503.xls>

the long term price outlook is another story entirely. depending on whose banter you cotton to it's either Henny Penny time or smooth sailing for the next couple of hundred years.

personally, i wouldn't mind seeing a retail price that represented more of the true costs of fuel use from pollution, environmental degradation, health costs, foreign dependency and security, etc.

that would probably mean a higher fuel tax. such taxes are usually criticized as regressive and, well, just for being taxes. however, the policy could be made revenue neutral and non-regressive by making balanced changes elsewhere in the tax code.

another criticism of these taxes is that people feel that there's nothing they can do about their fuel use. there is some truth to that in the short term, but certainly not WRT medium term decisions (like choosing a vehicle, or where to live and work). so, the tax could be phased in over time to allow for these adjustments to occur.

a higher price would result in lowered demand amounts, lower consumption and less of the ills resulting from its use.

distilled, it looks to me as if we're using too much fuel and don't have a lot of room to complain about prices. if you don't like the going rate, don't pay it. and if the available personal action options don't satisfy, well then you might start advocating for a wider approach. even if it means getting the government involved.

--rt








Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page