No, it can't be something as simple as supply and demand! It must be greedy speculators, or Big Oil! Or Wall Street!
The only thing I would add to it is how the weak dollar (caused by debt and our inability to produce anything that gives our currency value) is also to blame for high gas prices.
6 comments:
What model of motorcycle do you keep, and is it your main source of transportation? Contemplating to decide whether or not to sell my car and get a two-legged (two-wheeled) companion myself. Florida weather I think is a major component in my decision so icy roads aren't an issue.
Actually, I'd say the supply and demand curves for dollars have a LOT more to do with the price of oil (in dollars) than the supply and demand curves for oil.
I used to have a Ninja 250, got about 60 MPG. Put 30,000 miles on it, easily earned back the bike and all the gear I had to buy (which you can expect to spend about $600 on) in gas savings. And I was living in Minnesota.
Bike blew a head gasket, and now i have a Ninja 636. I increased the engine size because the winds in South Dakota and montanta are just brutal and the 250 was only getting about 48 MPG. Ironically the 636 is getting about 50 now and it is MUCH faster and makes the ladies MUCH weaker in the knees.
If you're in Florida, hell yes, it would definitely be worth the investment. But you do need a car for when it rains or even drops below 50 degrees.
Keep in mind that if you were to pay a 1950s price of say $0.25 a gallon, you would be handing over $6.18 worth of silver per quater per gallon.
I got that $6.18 figure from: http://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html.
Purchased last year and sold my 1996 Suzuki Bandit GSF600. The seller removed the fairing and replaced the headlight to one that was circular. Knew right away that this bike was for me, and other than passing MSF basic rider course my experience riding was null so in other words my confidence level wasn't where it needed to be for me to ride this thing back home right after the bike was officially mine.
The seller actually transported the bike from Jacksonville to Tallahassee in mid January. Understandably it took him over six hours to get here because it was in mid January. Told me he needed to stop every now and then to warm up and typically it takes approximately three hours travel time. Long story short I think he really wanted to end this chapter in his life as soon as possible. Said he was no longer interested in riding and was saving up to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend. It's possible she wanted him to get rid of the bike and not so much because she knew he needed the extra cash to buy her a ring because he told me that asking her to be his fiancé was going to be a surprise but more so because she just wanted him to get rid of the bike. Conceptually that doesn't make much sense to me but it happens.
In retrospect good for me because the bike had over 8,000 miles and also was able to negotiate $300.00 off of asking price. Did I forget to mention he transported the bike to me when in fact it's considered taboo for the seller to travel to the buyer? No, I didn't.
My biggest regret was selling the bike. Broke even on that endeavor because my selling price was higher than what I paid and now more than ever my routine at least every other day usually includes me clicking onto Craiglist's links to find a decent bike in my price range. Either want a Suzuki tu250x or Ninja 250. The infrastructure here in Tallahassee should well accommodate those style of bikes and really my daily commute doesn't require speed limits in excess of 45 mph.
For those of you out there who is thinking about selling your bike because you don't ride as much as you would like it's highly recommended to keep it at least for a few more months. Your resolve may sway on one side more than the other but after a few months sway back in the complete opposite direction.
Capn,
The fact that Obama and his minions are doing EVERYTHING THEY CAN to restrict the availablity of oil surely isn't helping the market price. He nixed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought 700,000 barrels a day here. He has that moratorium on Gulf drilling. He won't allow drilling in ANWR. Oil traders look at that, and they rightfully conclude that the price of oil HAS to go up; demand is staying the same, while supply is dropping. This shifts the supply curve to the left, thus jacking the equilibrium price for oil, and thus gas. If we had the Keystone pipeline and more drilling going on, then prices wouldn't rise. As an economist, I thought you would have known this...
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