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I know that this is difficult to believe, but petrol prices are probably going to decrease. This is the likely prediction that can be derived from a June 2012 study by one of the world's top experts on oil, gas, and energy, Leonardo Maugeri, entitled "Oil: The Next Revolution: The Unprecedented Upsurge of Oil Production Capacity and What It Means for the World" and published by the prestigious Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in America.The paper says that we expect a global growth in oil production "from 93 million barrels per day today to 110 million...

It's on sale!

The Democrats knew what they were doing when they deferred the implementation of most provisions of Obamacare until after the 2012 election. What is surprising, really, is that Obamacare has been so unpopular, given that most of its baleful effects have not yet been felt. But it won’t be long now. The Associated Press reports that health insurers are warning of massive price increases beginning next year: Some Americans could see their insurance bills double next year as the health care overhaul law expands coverage to millions of people.

A daughter is new car shopping for a Hyundai(they are supposed to be much better made now)and she used Consumer Reports to find the Invoice Price. She is nowhere near a seaport but the difference in Invoice & Sticker is only $200.... It has been a long time since i bought new and i though my Chevy Invoice was much lower than the sticker. I understood that knowing the invoice was a good baseline to bargain with the dealership. Do any FReepers know if her Invoice from Consumer Reports is bogus or is there a better place to find invoice...

President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress want to raise the minimum wage to improve the lot of the working poor. But they've got the wrong idea. The problem is not that these workers earn so little; it's that the things they buy cost so much. I propose instead to outlaw high prices. No one, after all, likes paying too much. So let's put a stop to it. Gas is too expensive? Make it $2 a gallon, max. Bread and meat take a big bite out of the family budget? Poor people could eat better if they had to pay...

Watch: “The Global Food Crisis You Need To Prepare For Is Now Imminent” Mac Slavo December 19th, 2012 Grocery stores may still be stocked with food and most Americans are still able to keep their family’s fed, but with 50 million Americans requiring government assistance to do so and prices on a seemingly never ending rise, how long will it be before the situation becomes unmanageable? The global food crisis you need to prepare for is now imminent. For the past six years the world has consumed more food than it has produced. As a result, global food reserves are...

Owning or Renting: High Risk or Tragedy of the Commons? The tragedy of the commons is the depletion of a shared resource by individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each one’s self-interest, despite their understanding that depleting the common resource is contrary to their long-term best interests. Examples abound such as common grazing on public land, depletion of fish in the ocean and why public restrooms are usually filthy. Homeownership is an example of the “tragedy of the commons.” Public housing projects, such as the infamous Cabrini Green in Chicago, are an example. Public housing is often poorly maintained...

The Smartest Investment Of The Decade by Simon Blackon November 12, 2012 Here’s something crazy to think about. Roughly 200,000 people were born today. That’s net world population growth, births minus deaths. Each one of them constitutes a new mouth to feed. And when they come of age, those 200,000 people will consume, conservatively, about 1,250 Calories per day. Collectively, that’s 91.25 billion Calories per year for the entire 200,000 people that were born today. Where will they get that food from? Consider that a cup of rice contains about 300 Calories. An average annual rice harvest yields about 150...

Forget Fact Checking: Where’s the Logic?- By: Larry Walker, Jr. -In a real town hall meeting, the person asking a question gets to follow up. What we saw Tuesday night wasn’t a town hall meeting at all. The readers appeared to be simply mouthing someone else’s prearranged questions. There wasn't any passion. But what if the public was allowed to retort? Following are my thoughts on the lecture Barack Obama provided in response to the second question, a rather simple one which he has yet to answer. QUESTION: Your energy secretary, Steven Chu, has now been on record three times...

When you pull up to that gas pump and nearly faint from how much it costs you to fill 'er up, you may be tempted blame the government for not doing enough to keep a lid on prices. Resist the temptation. The truth is the global nature of the world's energy supply means that no president has much power over what you pay at the pump. The question of whether the nation's chief executive can do anything to lower soaring energy costs has been a bone of contention between President Barack Obama and his GOP rival, former Mass. Gov. Mitt...

The Home Price Rally Is Spreading To More Housing Markets Mamta BadkarOctober 2, 2012Home prices, including distressed sales, were up 4.6 percent year-over-year according to CoreLogic's latest home price index. Prices were up 0.3 percent from a monh ago. This is the sixth straight increase in home prices. Excluding distressed sales home prices were up 4.9 percent on the year, and 1.0 percent on the month-over-month. One of the criticisms leveled at those that say housing has turned the corner is that housing is a local story and many markets are getting worse. But Mark Fleming, CEO of CoreLogic said...

An Autumn Surge In Corn Prices Will 'Shock The US And Global Livestock Industry' Rob WileSeptember 11, 2012 The historic U.S. drought caused corn prices to explode to record highs during the summer. However, prices haven't budged in a month and stands near $8/bu. In his latest note, Morgan Stanley commodities guru Hussein Allidina reiterates his thesis that the corn price rally isn't over. While the market continues to test what price will ration demand, it will eventually figure it out: While many have cited recent weakness in ethanol production and exports as a sign that prices have risen enough...

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced on Thursday that he would resign if that was the will of the people, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency reported. .....

On Thursday morning, hundreds of PA Arabs blocked roads and burned tires in the Ramallah area, protesting the high price of products in the PA. The Thursday protest was the latest in a series of demonstations in PA controlled area over high prices. On Wednesday, hundreds of residents of Shechem gathered in one of the town's main squares. demanding the removal of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and PA chief Mahmous Abbas. ...Fayyad and Abbas did not represent them, and that they demanded a new government. Joining them were Hamas members of the PA parliament. Protests have been taking...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Police in southeast Michigan say a man called to complain that a woman he had agreed to pay for sex unexpectedly increased the price. AnnArbor.com reports (http://bit.ly/Rw4Wcl ) that police were called to an Ann Arbor home late Wednesday on a report of a robbery. Police say the 45-year-old man and a 19-year-old Ohio woman he contacted online had agreed on a price, but that the man claimed she upped the cost after taking his money.

This coming Wednesday features a myriad of important economic, housing and mortgage reports: GDP, Pending Home Sales, Mortgage Purchase Applications, Pending Homes Sales and Corporate Profits. But on Tuesday, the Case-Shiller home prices indices will be released (and that means a busy day on TV for Yale Professor Robert Shiller). What are we expecting for Tuesday’ Case-Shiller 20 metro home price index? In a nutshell, it will show that house prices are recovering. FNC (blue) and FHFA (gold) have already released their home price indices last week and both show an uptick in their recent release for June 2012. What...

How To Save Money On Meat As Corn Prices Soar Andrea Woroch, AndreaWoroch.com Aug. 19, 2012, 12:14 PM A few weeks ago, the USDA warned about the impending increase in food prices as drought continues to diminish corn and soybean crops. More recently, however, the USDA advised corn crop yields are even less than previously estimated, making the future of grocery bills even more bleak. Since 40 percent of US-grown corn is used for animal feed, beef, pork and poultry will see the most significant price increases. If you and your family depend on meat as a primary source of...

The head of the world's largest food producer believes high prices are due to the growing of crops for biofuels."The time of cheap food prices is over," says Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. He is highly critical of the rise in the production of bio-diesel, saying this puts pressure on food supplies by using land and water that would otherwise be used to grow crops for human or animal consumption."If no food was used for fuel, the prices would come down again - that is very clear," he says. "We are now in a new world with a completely different level...

Corn Is Still Ripping Higher, And Is Now Up More Than 50% In Less Than A Month Joe Weisenthal Jul. 16, 2012, 8:14 PM Non-stop going up. Thanks to the drought... December corn futures via the CME, now up more than 50% from recent lows.

In a not-so-subtle rebuke of President Obama’s tendency to offer unsolicited recommendations on how Europeans should handle their debt crises on Sunday evening, Germany’s finance minister suggested that perhaps His Munificence should focus on his own problems before trying to fix everybody else’s. Wolfgang Schaeuble told public broadcaster ZDF in an interview late Sunday that “people are always very quick at giving others advice.”He says: “Mr. Obama should first of all take care of reducing the American deficit, which is higher than in the eurozone.” An unfortunate and embarrassing truth — the EU’s debt-to-GDP ratio is well over eighty percent,...