Norm

It turns out that the money does not really trickle down to the folks that need it.

Donald Trump said that Bush II is probably the worst President in our nation’s history. Donald Trump is a very rich guy! I don’t really want to go into Politics in this Blog, but I will just say this; Bush is an oil man. The prices have been sky high ever since he took office. It is like the chicken guarding the hen house.

Norm

Even if I did not drive, I would be the victim of the increase in prices of all retail, food, and other goods and that are the necessities of life in this country. All of their prices are either directly or indirectly driven by the cost of energy. The entire economy depends on energy and oil for everything from generating electricity to the transport of goods.

You are right I not forced to buy gas; but I really have no choice. Either do the many other hundreds of millions in this nation. The oil companies know this, and they know that we will pay whatever they charge unless someone stops them. This is why utilities are regulated in California.

It is not in this nations best interest to allow the oil companies to control our nation with unfettered discretion to do whatever they want to do. I hope my doomsday prediction does not come to pass, but it appears to me that the energy cost being what they are will be directly responsible for a major recession in our nation. Our nation has a symbiotic relationship with oil. I say regulate the price that companies can charge, and the mode and method by which they can increase prices. I am quite sure the companies will still produce product for the market, even if their profits are not so high. It is in the national interest to do so. This may even be a national security issue!

Norm

My major was Business in College; I know the principles you are arguing full well.

Unfortunately there is more to this story than just supply and demand. It is about no-competition, and no regulation whatsoever. We in California were the victims of the Enron scam whereby a company using the same arguments as you turned California into a 3rd world country during one summer a few years ago i.e. rolling blackouts, etc. to illegally line their pockets.

I do not disagree with you that companies are not supposed to make profits, however I do disagree with you that these same companies should also receive special tax credits while gouging the public which is what they are presently getting and doing with no real accountability to anyone.

I am quite positive that if we were to regulate oil prices, the big oil companies would still be there with their product. Monopolies have been broken up before, and hopefully we will continue to break them up in the future when the need arises.

The problem here is that unless something is done very fast, we will be headed into a very bad recession. Who in our government has the balls to do a real investigation to see what is really going on?

As far as my Harley, it runs better on premium. I would not even think about putting regular unleaded in it.

Norm

We are getting raped and everyone knows it. As I told you before, I try to stay out of politics on my Blog, but we have been pretty much getting raped since 2000! I was looking at some old pictures that we took at the gas station before Bush. The price was $1.50 per gallon.

There is no possible excuse for gas going up 100% in 7 years unless something or someone is playing games. The oil companies know that they can get away with it so they are raping us. It is just like a kid with a cookie jar, they will eat all of the cookies unless mommy stops them.

In this case mommy is not stopping them! The people need to regain control of the government.

Norm

Norm

We love your site down under so keep up the good work.

As for higher gas prices, I don’t agree that it’s a greed issue with the big oil companies. First, these companies don’t own the oil that’s in the ground. They buy it from Arab countries, and those countries control how much oil is getting into the market. Point your finger at the Arabs.

Second, the market is based on demand. If the price of gasoline goes up to $3.00 a gallon, and everyone still buys it, then technically, it’s not “too” expensive. It only becomes too expensive when people stop buying it. As long as the demand is there, the price will always rise. That’s a basic premise of “Supply vs Demand”.

As for people having no other choice but to buy gasoline, that’s not entirely true. We have all kinds of options, running from carpools, bicycles, buses, trains, motorcycles, and even telecommuting. But people still prefer to commute solo in their cars, even at $3.00 a gallon. Proof that people are not suffering from the price increase.

So, as long as the market can withstand a price $3.00 a gallon, there’s no problem with it. There’s nothing wrong about making billions of dollars in profit. That’s what companies are supposed to do.

I don’t disagree that oil companies are raising their prices irrespective of current demand. What I’m arguing is that this is NOT price gouging because consumers are still willing to bear the price increase for the luxury of driving solo in their cars. I think it’s totally ethical for companies to sell their product at whatever price the market is willing to bear.

To put it in another way, the oil companies didn’t force you to buy gasoline. You made that decision.