Posted on 08/31/2005 11:34:55 AM PDT by JZelle
Nationally, the average price for regular gasoline around $2.50 per gallon. Are gasoline prices high? That's not the best way to put that question. It's akin to asking, "Is Williams tall?" The average height of U.S. women is 5 foot four. For men, it's 5 foot 10 inches. Being 6 foot four, I would be tall relative to the general U.S. population. Put me on a basketball court, next to the average NBA player, and I would be short. So when we ask if a price is high or low, we must ask: relative to what? In 1950, a gallon of regular gasoline sold for about 30 cents; today, it's $2.50. Are today's gasoline prices high compared to 1950? Before answering, we have to take into account inflation since 1950. Using my trusty inflation calculator (www.westegg.com/inflation), what cost 30 cents in 1950 costs $2.33 in 2005. In real terms, that means gasoline prices today are only slightly higher, about 8 percent, than in 1950. Up until the recent spike, gasoline prices have been considerably lower than 1950 prices. Some Americans demand the government do something about gasoline prices. Let's think back to 1979 when the government did something. The Carter administration set up price controls. What did we see? Long gasoline lines, if the station hadn't run out of gas. It's estimated Americans used about 150,000 barrels of oil per day idling their cars while waiting in line.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Price caps now would not cause the kind of lines you had back in '79 for 2 reasons.
1. Back in 1979 there was no self-serve. You had to wait for some gas monkey to come gas you up. and ...
We've had self serve since the 40s (depending on local laws)
2. There are many more gas stations now than 25 years ago. If one doesn't have gas, the fellow a block from you will.
There are fewer gas stations today than in 1979.
Better a reasonable price and a bit scarce than plentiful and unaffordable!
Are you kidding? You clearly haven't noticed that the slightly confused elderly and highly distracted soccer moms take LONGER to pump gas than would a "gas monkey." Not to mention the teenagers who pull up the the pump and then scrounge around for loose change to pre-pay for their gas with. Or maybe you think the folks who park at the pump, get their gas, and then stroll into the store to pick up their smokes and beer are speeding the process along?
I am really trying hard to figure out just how self-serve has ANYTHING to do with lines. I saw lines last night. SElf serve, pay at the pump. Now, cap the price and they'll institute rations, and everyone will line up on their appointed day. I remember those 70's years too.
2. There are many more gas stations now than 25 years ago. If one doesn't have gas, the fellow a block from you will.
If one doesn't have gas, then for all practical purposes, it doesn't exist. If the gas cannot get here, because they cannot afford to ship it because it costs more to produce than is taken in at the pump, then they won't have it.
Yes you ARE a troll. You and your "FreeDemm" friend.
Nah, you'd also have to start making sense.
Why not try making a logical argument rather than a circular one?
There are more gas stations, more pumps at each station, and (unless you are stuck in New Jersey) you get to pump it yourself--and pay at the pump!! The whole pumping process (no jokes, please) is exponentially quicker than back in the 1970s. There will be some lines in some places, but NOTHING like the nightmare of 1979.
I'll try one more time, too. The technology of the pump and who operates it is trivial. That means it does not matter. That means it is a very small portion of the problem.
Yes, things may move more quickly now than they did in the 70s, but you are missing the point completely. They did not have long lines in the 70s because of poor pump technology or a lack of pumps.
They had long lines in the 70s because of a scarcity of gasoline and the way people react in such situations. Why do you think that the laws of supply and demand no longer apply? Do you think the amount of gasoline available will be the same whether it costs $4/gallon or the gov't mandates it only cost $1?
Do you think if the supply becomes low, people will hoard?
SD
"This forum reminds me of 16th century Spain"
And your posts are a goofy throwback to the malaise of the Carter administration.
Filled up the company car this morning at $2.88/gal. at the local Exxon. Just drove by the same station on my way back and it was $2.95/gal.
A privately owned station about a block away that usually has lower prices if you pay cash has $3.29/gal. posted on their sign. Didn't see any customers though...
I worked at a gas station in 1979. We had several self-serve pumps.
Hate to say it, but I enjoyed working there during the gas crunch. I got to fill-up my tank regardless. Plus, a huge line would form-up overnight in front of our saw horses. Come opening time the next morning, it sounded like the Indy 500 when we went outside to move the horses.
Work until our alotment ran out and then went home.
Hey, I was a teenager. I was allowed to be lazy. :-)
If prices were high because the oil was expensive, I'd have no problem paying $3.00/gallon. That's not the case, however. Prices are high because the market has to buy their product, so the oil companies can force people to buy it.
I support a Windfall Profits Tax. And don't give me the "troll" garbage. I've been here since Sept. 2000. The simple fact of the matter is that these oil companies are on the way to actually derailing the American economy. 100 years ago, when coal strikes threatened the American economy, the military seized the coal mines and ensured the uninterrupted supply of coal. We need to do the same for oil now.
Irrelevant. This didn't cause or contribute to the lines.
2. There are many more gas stations now than 25 years ago. If one doesn't have gas, the fellow a block from you will.
It's my sense that this is incorrect. Some intersections had gas stations on all corners. When gas went self-serve, and gas stations turned into mini-markets, we lost at least half of those stations. Plus there are not as many gasoline brands as there where then with all the mergers, etc.
Better a reasonable price and a bit scarce than plentiful and unaffordable!
Very "planned economy" of you. Jimmy Carter got bounced for that type of reasoning.
We don't need price controls, we need more SUPPLY. Thus, we need more drilling and more refineries. We can lessen demand by using coal and nuclear power plants instead of natural gas powered plants..
"Price caps now would not cause the kind of lines you had back in '79 for 2 reasons. "
um Price caps actually forced rationing which forced long lines - supply became EXTREMELY limited and demand did not decrease
that is what caused the lines
no self serve lol pretty funny
Wait a minute! I thought the Socialists - I mean the Democrats - WANTED the price of gasoline to go up. Isn't that what Algore and his ilk were insisting? Now that the price is up why would you want price controls to bring it back down. What's the idea - employ a democrat voter in the agency that does the regulating?
No, simply using correct terminology does not mean that you have wrapped your brain around correct thinking. This takes even greater effort. And perhaps larger nadz...
Then you haven't been paying attention. Oil in the ground is like money in the bank to the oil company holding the lease. How would you like to own a bank account with billions of dollars in it and have the federal government prevent you from accessing it? Part of an oil company's stock price is the value of its reserves. Inaccessable reserves are essentially valueless.
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