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Why Is Gasoline Consumption Tanking?
Of Two Minds ^ | 2/10/2012 | Charles Hugh Smith

Posted on 02/10/2012 10:49:46 AM PST by VA Voter

What other plausible explanation is there for the decline from 42.4 MGD in July 2011 to 30.9 MGD in November 2011 other than a dramatic decline in discretionary driving? That 27% drop in a few months in unprecedented, except in times of war or sharp economic contraction, i.e. recession.

If we stipulate that vehicles and fuel consumption are essential proxies for the U.S. economy, then we can expect a steep decline in economic activity to register in other metrics within the next few months.

Such a sharp drop would of course be "unexpected" given the positive employment data of the past few months. But as the data above shows, employment isn't tightly correlated to gasoline consumption: gasoline consumption reflects recession and growth.

In other words, look out below.

(Excerpt) Read more at oftwominds.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
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To: NRG1973

I’m not sure about the data source.
Shedlock is definitely not in the bag for Baraq, he’s a libertarian.

There’s a FReeper named “Thackney” who is an oil industry expert, maybe he’ll see this and chime in.


41 posted on 02/10/2012 12:25:34 PM PST by nascarnation (DEFEAT BARAQ 2012 DEPORT BARAQ 2013)
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To: VA Voter

SUSTAINED......

Gasoline and the price of oil has been SUSTAINED at the 3.00-3.99/ 95-105 range.

The FLOOD of non-productive 15 trillion dollar paychecks and pensions, is keeping commodity prices high, and poisoning the false-stock market.

The productive are and WILL keep shutting down consumption of EVERYTHING, NOT JUST GASOLINE, until Arbeitsziehungslager-Theft cessation.


42 posted on 02/10/2012 12:26:56 PM PST by Varsity Flight (Phony-Care is the Government Work-Camp: Arbeitsziehungslager)
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To: The Wizard

$3.35 2/09/2012 South FW @ 7:00am
$3.49 2/10/2012 same location @ 11:00 am
What a bunch of crap.......


43 posted on 02/10/2012 12:44:58 PM PST by 9422WMR
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To: VA Voter

Runaway sales of the Chevy Volt /sarc


44 posted on 02/10/2012 12:46:07 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: VA Voter

And then ask why the price is going up when it should be going down. Answer: Wallstreet.


45 posted on 02/10/2012 12:46:47 PM PST by Revel
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To: C. Edmund Wright
Here are the numbers (from the EIA):

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1983 46,218.3 48,906.1 54,111.7 49,093.7 52,021.3 52,517.2 51,898.0 51,905.6 52,676.3 50,724.3 51,150.8 51,879.1
1984 54,148.6 55,651.7 57,636.0 56,937.0 58,755.9 60,075.0 59,055.7 59,378.3 56,947.3 57,386.5 58,075.3 56,765.8
1985 54,584.3 53,829.7 57,297.6 59,075.2 57,563.7 58,832.1 58,563.3 58,096.1 56,979.0 56,949.0 58,100.7 60,295.9
1986 55,283.0 58,546.4 61,250.4 62,628.9 65,578.7 63,294.1 62,861.8 61,342.4 60,341.9 60,946.1 61,880.4 62,290.2
1987 56,488.6 60,641.1 61,627.2 61,733.5 61,750.0 64,315.2 62,404.8 62,643.9 59,339.3 60,707.9 58,877.0 61,720.2
1988 57,041.0 59,900.3 61,577.5 61,584.1 60,701.3 62,884.1 61,873.2 62,450.0 61,036.1 60,385.3 59,783.1 63,099.8
1989 55,556.8 58,492.6 60,500.1 60,242.0 62,088.7 63,521.0 62,335.0 63,362.0 61,922.8 61,973.6 61,339.0 63,182.4
1990 58,138.0 57,909.4 59,847.0 59,600.5 60,572.2 63,108.6 61,531.0 63,182.0 60,912.1 60,295.1 60,550.6 58,382.1
1991 56,924.5 59,384.5 61,553.8 61,982.0 62,244.9 63,319.4 62,600.6 62,534.0 60,346.2 61,181.3 60,442.9 61,521.7
1992 56,410.9 58,308.6 59,639.5 59,980.2 59,615.2 60,353.3 60,400.3 59,083.7 58,579.1 59,011.8 56,877.6 59,287.9
1993 53,826.6 57,305.3 57,624.8 58,138.7 57,465.8 60,391.1 58,807.7 58,453.0 57,462.3 55,432.4 55,743.5 56,074.7
1994 51,533.7 54,270.1 55,363.8 54,962.1 55,523.0 57,165.3 55,834.5 56,393.4 54,992.9 54,240.5 54,480.4 55,612.3
1995 51,200.2 54,138.2 55,592.4 55,456.8 56,242.2 58,547.4 56,944.0 58,296.8 56,580.9 55,610.5 55,907.4 56,471.5
1996 53,039.9 54,566.8 56,388.2 57,183.4 57,796.4 59,170.9 58,909.8 59,651.5 57,845.3 58,456.2 58,101.4 59,200.7
1997 54,440.6 57,313.3 58,443.8 58,854.0 57,840.1 59,820.3 65,294.2 64,803.7 63,680.2 64,355.2 62,252.8 66,017.1
1998 59,905.7 62,399.8 64,533.5 59,012.3 59,509.7 60,837.0 67,183.3 66,831.0 65,146.9 65,121.8 63,846.8 65,401.5
1999 60,254.0 62,779.7 63,320.2 63,722.4 63,464.7 64,458.4 62,669.7 61,363.0 59,265.4 60,415.4 59,078.1 62,719.0
2000 54,421.0 59,107.2 60,573.0 57,911.6 60,300.4 63,275.5 62,278.2 63,621.8 63,098.0 61,954.7 62,184.7 62,014.2
2001 58,139.5 61,731.0 62,859.5 62,301.3 62,878.9 65,417.0 62,534.2 64,390.5 62,214.2 60,864.4 60,024.8 60,793.5
2002 60,211.7 63,942.2 62,828.5 63,953.3 64,537.0 64,874.0 64,594.2 66,683.5 62,352.4 63,344.8 63,255.8 63,109.4
2003 60,247.9 60,803.4 60,815.8 61,728.4 66,315.5 66,426.5 66,803.1 66,812.7 63,949.0 64,615.5 63,778.4 63,394.5
2004 57,143.8 58,381.7 59,186.2 59,352.6 58,565.7 58,992.8 59,012.0 59,664.1 57,327.4 57,977.1 57,017.9 58,013.6
2005 54,938.7 58,368.8 58,330.0 59,093.3 59,474.5 61,731.9 61,109.4 61,220.9 57,866.5 57,075.2 59,094.7 59,426.1
2006 56,531.8 59,960.4 59,859.7 61,020.8 60,234.0 61,980.4 61,445.8 62,015.9 59,783.4 60,233.2 58,860.2 57,862.5
2007 54,698.1 56,954.9 57,278.7 57,354.7 58,719.6 60,865.7 58,806.7 60,178.5 57,912.9 57,843.2 56,579.0 54,650.0
2008 53,994.1 56,157.4 55,494.8 56,307.4 56,390.6 55,938.5 54,802.5 55,628.2 53,405.9 55,210.7 54,080.6 53,931.5
2009 51,108.7 50,968.4 51,298.4 51,215.6 50,957.0 50,419.6 49,677.9 49,966.5 48,669.6 48,461.0 47,454.3 47,441.4
2010 44,012.3 44,227.1 45,482.4 46,234.2 46,016.2 46,765.3 45,755.3 45,082.6 43,876.0 43,624.1 42,857.0 42,417.1
2011 40,331.0 40,924.9 41,608.1 41,555.0 41,172.9 42,477.2 42,448.3 42,351.8 41,972.6 32,015.0 30,934.0

It's clear demand has been dropping off since the middle of 2009. But I wonder if the sharp drop in October and November is not simply a data problem — reports not all in — that isn't real and will get revised upward.

46 posted on 02/10/2012 12:47:11 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: relictele

It’s not just gasoline. I just returned from the grocery store and it looks like almost everything has jumped by 5% to 10% in the last month or two. It is frightening to think what it will be by this time next year.


47 posted on 02/10/2012 12:48:13 PM PST by pepperdog (Why are Democrats Afraid of a Voter ID Law?)
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To: bicyclerepair

You left out properly inflated tires.


48 posted on 02/10/2012 12:48:48 PM PST by VA Voter
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To: KoRn

Nevertheless, it works for Obama.

Consumption drops dramatically, but the price keeps rising.

The great unwashed conclude that the Law of Supply and Demand must be a bunch of hooey. It’s all a big scam. And if a basic tenet of Capitalism is nothing but a scam, Capitalism itself must be one also.


49 posted on 02/10/2012 12:49:00 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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50 posted on 02/10/2012 12:51:11 PM PST by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: jiggyboy
The past few months have been even more grim than usual for the immediate pre- and post-Christmas period for some contractors of my acquaintance. Roofers are still getting work, but calls for discretionary projects like new flooring and interior painting are way down.

I wonder if Lakshman Achuthan knows something mainstream economists don't. Here he is last December reiterating a recession call he made at the end of September:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcEYCuvHr0

51 posted on 02/10/2012 1:11:02 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: pepperdog

It isn’t just the prices. It’s the dwindling quantities as well.

The UK papers, with their typical cutting humor, call it the ‘supermarket shrink ray.’

Products are being reduced in weight/volume - almost imperceptibly - while the price remains the same or increases.

Boxed items are the most frequent culprits as the box can be made thinner, wider and taller (e.g. breakfast cereal) while the bag inside is made smaller. Our minds fool us into thinking the box is the same size and when we pick it up it still feels ‘full’ but we are paying dearly for a lot of air.

One of the few drawbacks to our market-driven economy is the lack of any watchdogs beyond the leftist-dominated Consumer Reports. Local and national media are, of course, hopelessly dependent on advertising by both producers and retailers and will avoid the issue whenever possible.


52 posted on 02/10/2012 1:13:09 PM PST by relictele (Green energy is neither)
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To: relictele

Half gallons of ice cream suddenly became 1.75 quarts, now 1.5 quarts. Pretty soon a half-gallon of ice cream will be one quart.


53 posted on 02/10/2012 1:28:01 PM PST by Disambiguator
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To: Varsity Flight

Bingo.
A big part of this is the Galt effect


54 posted on 02/10/2012 1:48:17 PM PST by Lorianne
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To: NRG1973

(s) people have 10,000 friends and they all live in their computer. Who needs to drive?(/s)


55 posted on 02/10/2012 2:17:53 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: himno hero
Everyone has discounted and moving to their expectations of a lousy presidency.

And what progressives generally, and democrats specifically are unequiped to grasp, is that the (now justified) stampede for the financial exits began in 2007, before "the great uniter" was elected.

For them, it was "Bush's fault."

56 posted on 02/10/2012 2:19:30 PM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: Revel
And then ask why the price is going up when it should be going down. Answer: Wallstreet.

NO.

During the Carter administration, well connected socialist "government advisors" recommended $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

During the Reagan administration, well connected socialist "government advisors" recommended $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

During the Bush (1&2) administration, well connected socialist "government advisors" recommended $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

During the Clinton administration, well connected socialist "government advisors" recommended $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

During the Obama administration, well connected socialist "government advisors" recommended $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

Today, well connected socialist "government advisors" continue to recommend $5 a gallon gasoline as a means of "controlling consumption."

It works and is good for Europe; it must also be good for us and works great.

We don't need no stinking domestic oil production and development of additional proven alternative energy sources.

57 posted on 02/10/2012 2:33:39 PM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: pepperdog
It’s not just gasoline. I just returned from the grocery store and it looks like almost everything has jumped by 5% to 10% in the last month or two. It is frightening to think what it will be by this time next year.

This is just another way of saying everything is affected by transportation energy prices.

When "the great uniter" told us that as a result of HIS energy policy the price of energy would skyrocket, I immediately thought...

Agriculture and food!

Didn't you?

58 posted on 02/10/2012 2:37:12 PM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: cynwoody

That’s an amazingly steep drop... -Half- of what it was in the same month only a few years ago? I can understand it declining... the economy... jobs... shipping... even unusually severe winter... but in half? Something must be missing.


59 posted on 02/10/2012 3:12:55 PM PST by Ramius (.)
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To: C. Edmund Wright
Look at the figures year over year, November to November.

The idea that people curtail discretionary driving as an austerity measure should not be surprising. The media has sold Americans on the belief that we have a "love affair with the auto," implying that demand is inelastic. Obviously, except for adolescent nuts, that is bullshit. As people mature, driving becomes less an adventure, or leisure time activity, and more a time-consuming necessity.

I have been cutting down for years on driving so I can have more time(and money) to do other, more interesting things. I suspect I'm not alone.

60 posted on 02/10/2012 4:41:15 PM PST by hinckley buzzard
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