27 years of gasoline prices: actual & inflation adjusted

I can't quote sources as well as you did, but I lived in Torrance, CA in the 50's and often had to go to LA; visibility was about one (uno, 1) block! It often became noticeable with the eyes started burning and those "in the know" said, "it's cigarette smoke, it's proved by the fact it starts to grow about 7 am when people get up and have their first cigarette."

I also did some offshore sail boat racing. My first race was the Cinco de Mayo that went from LA to Ensenada. We'd go out about 20 miles and fall off to a line to head for Ensenada. I looked toward shore...what shore? All I could see was a brown haze.

Personally I don't believe it was all from cigarette smoke, does anyone here? :-\ For one thing not that many people lived in LA, they all lived in the suburbs where the air was clear. ;-)

As for gas mileage I offer: In 1948 I had a '36 Ford that got 12 mpg up hill or down. Today I've a '02 MB E-320 that gets 28 mpg on the highway!

I said there were many factors affecting the price of oil but they aren't the same pressures that affect other commodities in a free market.

Corn and pork bellies don't have to deal with the greed and corruption of the OPEC ministers and the fears sold to us by big oil and government.

But then again I must be wrong and you are always right. Check the threat levels on the Homeland Security web site and live your life accordingly. (June 8, 2006 The United States remains at an elevated risk, Code Yellow, for terrorist attack.) Those colors are constantly changing for your benefit and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the fact that World War II was over in less time than we have spent looking for Bin Laden and all we have accomplished is the deaths of thousands of Americans.

You're right, it's just basic economics and Katrina so we must accept it and not question those that profit from it.

Wake up trader4, I thought you were a big boy....

No, corn just deals with ever changing weather/crop conditions around the world. I've seen corn go limit down just because the 10 day weather forecast for the midwest changed. Pork bellies can go limit up or down several days in a row based on the latest cold storage report. And large farming corporations that produce much of the corn crop are as greedy as any other businessmen, as they should be. A hurricane approaching the Gulf of Mexico sends gasoline futures higher because traders start factoring in the possibility of refinery shutdowns or damage to offshore wells.

So, what is your point?

And this has what again to do with the price of gasoline?

I never said that. I did say it is basic economics. Demand for oil around the world is up. We haven't done what we should to help increase supply, like opening up offshore drilling and drilling in ANWAR. Americans have chosen to buy SUVs that require more gas than other vehicles. Katrina did knock out production in the Gulf and much of it is still out as the offshore platforms were totally wiped out. You have the OPEC countries acting as a quasi oligopoly. Those are the main factors driving prices. It's nothing unusual or that hasn't been seen before or that needs a conspiracy theory to explain.

You seem to think at various times that some of the above are major factors in determining the price of fuel. But then you tell us it all could have been predicted because Bush is responsible for it because he was in the oil industry. Then you throw in more political crap about the hunt for Bin Laden, as if that has anything to do with the price of fuel. Or try to tell us that the requirements for cleaner fuel haven't been constantly evolving, which I showed you is flat out wrong. It's not a major factor, but it does make producing fuels more costly every year. You on the other hand, claim that fuel prices should be lower today because of "technology", but then can't tell us what technology you are referring to.

As for profits, I pointed out that the oil companies profit on a gallon of gasoline is 10 or 15 cents, which certainly isn't all that much. The US govt then gets half of that as corporate income tax that goes straight into the treasury. Meanwhile the govt is taking about another 25-30 cents in direct taxes on a gallon of gasoline, yet no one seems to be bitching about that. The profits of the major oil companies are used to search for and produce more oil or returned to the stockholders as dividends. The stockholders include a decent percentage of ordinary Americans who have IRAs or pension plans that are invested in oil stocks. So, even a good bit of the profit after taxes directly benefits the American people.

I am awake. It seems you are the one having pipe dreams about Bush oil conspiracies.