PocketMatrix

Does anyone actually know the mechanisms that affect gas prices? Cuz I think this nation needs a fucking education... All this talk of a windfall profit tax is driving me crazy.

How much we kick ass affects the gas prices. The more we kick ass, the higher it goes.

Right now, we really kick ass.

The obvious things like supply, cost of refining, the taxes that different states have and the regulations on storage. Also whatever the people are willing to pay.

What bugs me is when the media says "Gas is going to break $3.50 a gallon by the end of summer" because then it obviously will because people are expecting that and gas companies can charge that much.

Sponge, maybe we shouldn't nuke the hell out of Iran for threatening us so that gas prices don't sky rocket, because if we nuked Iran we'd really be kicking some ass. Some big fat ass.

LMFAO

Petrol here is nearly $9/gallon. And I taxed my car yesterday, which cost $325 for the year.

Actually it's more like $6.88/gallon. 1 Pound per liter = $6.88/gallon. But that's still more than twice what our gas costs. ... See how good a job Bush is doing at keeping the gas prices down after the Democrats that try to blame him for gas prices are the same democrats who voted against expanding our energy resources?

About 75% of the english fuel cost is tax.

We're at about 18%.

It's pretty much free market economics at work. There's a high demand for oil from us and developing nations but it looks like we've almost/have reached peak capacity. We're heading into the driving season. Iraq produces less oil now than it did before the war... On and on... oil has a lot of reasons to be up and that obviously affects gas prices.

Introducing significant gas taxes might be a good idea; it'd provide incentive to wean people off of petroleum energy. A tax induced, and gradual, increase in gas prices might be better than the free-market alternative. I don't subscribe to this belief, but I can understand it.

It may also get you to move into either smaller and more fuel efficient cars, or switch to diesel engines which return in excess of 50mpg.

Even American petrol engines (no offence intended), are horribly crude compared to European designs. The 2 litre diesel engine in my car develops 160bhp and gives me 55mpg when doing it.

Well, if you get twice the mileage at twice the cost, then we're still getting the same miles / dollar.

Weird.

The price for a barrell of oil has gone up significantly because of the possibility of war in Iran. All this market stuff is bullshit. The more I learn of economics the more I wonder why the hell people think these are good ideas. What's wrong with something simpler?

Economics is the study of the economy.

I believe you mean that you don't believe in the conclusions come to by economists. Which is your prerogative.

Please, ignore the fact that development and as a result, freedom, are the products of capitalism. Though capitalism isn't perfect, it is the least imperfect system.

Free market capitalism is the most beautiful religion.

Why even bother applying mathematical analysis to an economy when Bill O'Reilly will just give you the answers?