Re: Gas prices aren't dropping

I'm never happy when fuel prices go up.

I guess you all know fuel prices in Europe are higher, but I don't think many people know how much higher : it's 1 euro/litre and 1 gallon = 4.54 litres.

So we pay $4.54/gallon and recently here in Belgium the government is considering to increase the taxes on fuel drastically (!) in an attempt to reduce the many traffic jams, the government figures high fuel prices means less cars on the road.

No, I'm not happy either.

Reply to
EazyPrinz
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If the government isn't careful, they will be forcing everyone to go back to the horse drawn carriages. Higher fuel cost equals higher fares for public transportation. So who actually wins? Noone, gasoline companies lose, automobile companies lose (except when new hybrids and fully electric cars are in full production). When those types of vehicles are in, the traffic jams have returned.

Reply to
Escapade

Here to get cars off the road they are increasing other fees...and making tickets MUCH more expensive and adding other penalties.

For instance, here in Pennsylvania, this year there are 2 new laws regarding tickets in construction zones: - you now must have your headlights on. If not, you get a ticket, about $100, well, acutally all fines are coubled in a construction zone, so figure $200.

-And this past monday they started this one: get caught speeding at 11 or more MPH over the limit and you will lose your license for 15 days, plus get a fine, doubled of course.

this is to save lives. I think that is a good idea..until you find out that there have only been 2 fatalities in teh entire state in conctruction zones in the past 5 years, and none for 2 years...

chris

Crispy

Life is hard. Life is harder when you're stupid.

Reply to
Chris P

I think that is a good idea..until you find out

I think its a good idea if they fine you 10 times the amount of a regular fine plus 6 months in jail if you drive like an idiot thru a contruction zone. It could be one of your/my family members that gets killed !

Reply to
rbc

why do we in the US bitch about $1.80/gal of gas that comes from Arab oil? milk from your local US farmer gets you for $2.50 + for a gal gas is relatively cheap considering how we get it, and where we get it from. lets stop buying pickups, hummers and SUV's before we start bitching. if we REALLY cared we would all drive a motor cycle or GEO. i knew my WS6 was a semi-gas hog so i don't care what gas gets to. it was my choice

Reply to
Chuck H. Harper

Why aren't fuel prices dropping like expected? There is a web site that

> shows a graph of fuel prices since 1995. I thought after the war we would > see a decrease, but regular gas is up 10 cents a gallon from the same time > last year. See it at
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> > > >
Reply to
cengo

I would drive a motorcycle or geo for just jettingaround town, but there are those hummers and SUVs out there. If an Excursion hit a GEO, what would happen to the GEO after it landed 50 feet away, much less the person inside? Even a light (4,000 lbs) SUV would totallly kill whoever it hit in the GEO. I personally like the idea of hybrid and electric vehicles myself, save until the hydrogen fuel cells come out and are readily available and refuelable. I'm curious as to if they will have diferent grades like we do with gasoline? How would they rate it anyway, by purity or would it be all the same?

Reply to
Led Sleddin'

That's why petrol is so (too) cheap in the US. Try tax at USD 2 - 3 per gallon.

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

We try not to legislate who'll drive based on their income bracket.

The Vampire, "Muffin Man"

Reply to
The Vampire Muffin Man

"Too" cheap?

Please.

bp

Reply to
Barry Posner

Most people don't realize that in "real" (i.e., inflation adjusted) terms, gasoline was at an all-time low price in late 1998. Of course, crude oil was also at an all-time low then (about $11/barrel - or 26 cents/gallon).

And per-mile cost of operating a vehicle in the US is near an all-time low. Car prices are actually coming down in nominal, as well as real terms. For example, and entry-level Saturn cost $12,000 in 1997, but today an equivalent car costs $11,500.

Gasoline taxes in the US are one of the few taxes that are more or less appropriate: both the feds, and most states, set the tax at a rate that is sufficient to generate about enough revenue for roadway maintenance and expansion.

bp

Reply to
Barry Posner

Compare the rise in gas costs vs. the rise in health care costs over the same period. I go to the doctor, sit in the waiting room for an hour. Go back to the exam room, sit for 1/2 an hour. The doc comes in and takes my temp, asks what my symptoms are and writes a script. His total time invested: 15 minutes. My cost: $60...in addition to the $300/mo I pay for insurance. Hey, is there another profession where I can make $240 an hour?

Reply to
Ida Wanna

Not to mention high legal insurance premiums in the US, as I understand it. (Unfortunately these are rising in the UK, too. The Brits are getting more litigeous; maybe that's not a bad thing.)

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

Indeed. And don't forget the salaries of the secretaries and accountants and sales reps whose time can't be billed out. I certainly don't begrudge entrepreneurs the profits they make from selling other people's labour. Hell, how much of the risk did I take?

Sooner or later, I'd like to be in my ex-boss's shoes, but the ugly truth is that for every consulting firm that makes it, 4 or 5 fail. It's not an easy gig.

bp

Reply to
Barry Posner

Let's see here. Gas is refined the same way now as it was in 1951, plus or minus a few safety vavles and the disallowance of certain (lead) additives.

Cadillacs now have, power seats, alarms, lo-jack, on-star, HID lights, abs breaks, airbags, 5, mph safety bumpers, higher build quality, more costly labor, electronics, cruise control, fuel injection, 7 computers, more sensors then you can count, catalytic converters, smog equipment, ean on and on. Gee, wonder why they cost more. Oh, and you can get a caddy CTS for $30,695 not $50,000. A deville starts at $35,000.

Better? MTBE? Yes, stuff that leaks into the groundwater through new tanks is much better and safer. Especially since it got banned, you know, that cancer and stillborn babies and all.

Duh, fuel injection?

You have the internet in front of you. Please use it for research so I don't need to here you dribble on.

Brian

Reply to
Led Sleddin'

You forget that the US gets most of its petrol from North America and Venezuela, not the Arab states. If we had to depend on OPEC for the majority of our supply, then we'd be paying at least what you guys are paying at the pump.

Reply to
Weland

Sounds like this whole group is singing from the same prayer book. Do you all have energy stock per chance... In 1951 you could buy a gallon of gas for .19 to 21 cents ( I was there) and your average 51 Cadillac could get about 16 to 20 miles per gallon. Some later models in the late 60's and early 70's got lousy mileage more probably in the 8 to 12 mpg range. Comparisons to European fuel costs are bullshit their problem is 90 percent tax, and they're are goofy enough to go along with it. They think its normal because they have been getting hosed for so long they think it's normal. The Enron lesson sure didn't go far with you folks..

Dale P..........

Reply to
dale_peterson

Barry, Explain why 13 wells had to be shut down in the Lake Tahoe area one of the pristine areas of the planet. From what I've read locally MTBE is cheap, but of coursed still raises the cost of fuel. No need to let a little poison screw up the bottom line.... Dale P..........

Reply to
dale_peterson

Not anymore. Venezuela is no longer a democracy. Chavez is the man now, he order the discontinuation of elections until further notice about 19 months ago. The oil production from them is down to 1/3 what is was 4 years ago. The military is in power. Unemployment in that region has increased 5 fold. Incidentally, Venezuela is a part of OPEC.

Brian

Reply to
Led Sleddin'

Sorry, wrong. Our 'problem' is taxes, as Dale Petersen quite rightly pointed out. What's more, for some years the UK was a net exporter of crude, but that had no effect on fuel price levels

Whether we are being 'hosed' is another question. It's just another way of raising taxes, as the amount flowing into government coffers has long been far greater than being spent on roads.

Actually in many European countries it is thought that there is no further need for new motorways as they simply generate more traffic.

BTW I personally don't agree with this and believe, as far as the UK is concerned, that lots of the decision-making politicians don't spend any time on Britain's main arteries, observing the heavy goods traffic going unecessarity slowly because of SWOT (sheer weight of traffic) (and never mind the passenger cars).

DAS

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Reply to
Dori Schmetterling

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