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Gas rationing


dib

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Rationing kept gas prices down in the 70's. :thumbdown:

 

It did? :devil: Funny . . . I remember gas lines and an energy crisis which fed directly to the Stag-flation under Carter.

 

Free enterprise is the only way to go. Let the market set the price. When the price gets too high, demand (and prices) will fall.

 

I've altered my driving habits by slowing down on the thruway from 75 to a little over 65. But i haven't cut out any non-essential driving . . .yet.

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It did? :thumbdown: Funny . . . I remember gas lines and an energy crisis which fed directly to the Stag-flation under Carter.

 

Free enterprise is the only way to go. Let the marlet set the price. When the price gets too high, demand (and prices) will fall.

 

I've altered my driving habits by slowing down on the thruway from 75 to a little over 65. But i haven't cut out any non-essential driving . . .yet.

 

The problem becomes more severe with lower income families. Aside from carpooling there are few options when one needs to get to work. Gas is like electricity and water. You have to have it to survive. The net result is people have less to spend on other items or as the economists like to call it "marginal propensity to spend". Fewer consumer goods being sold hurts the manufacturers of those goods, the folks who transport them and the vendors who sell them. They start laying off so you have fewer people earning money to by said goods. Somewhat of a nasty spiral ensues.

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I wonder if that would be a viable option to rising gas prices?

 

It could possibly artificially lower the demand, but seeing as it worked <sarcasm>oh so well</sarcasm> the last time we tried it, let the market do its thing. Honestly it's got to start coming from somewhere else. Alaska, the coast of Florida? Doesn't matter to me. OPEC et al. have us by our diesel-burning 4x4-loving American gonads. I like birds and Mexican Staring Frogs from Southern Sri Lanka as much as the next guy, but come on...

 

In the long term, this may actually be a good thing in that it's going to force a bit of a rethink in terms of fuel. I'm sure the technology has been there for years; this is hopefully the kick in the ass we need to get it onto the assembly line. It might also help curb the ridiculous sprawl in cities such as San Jose, Atlanta, and Dallas if it continues for more than a year or two.

 

I'd buy a hybrid myself, but that could make me gay.

 

Edit: When I first saw your topic, my thought was 'Which one of our candidates suggested this one? Perhaps we can ration gas and lock in rates while we freeze foreclosures! Free TV converters for everyone!'

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I wonder if that would be a viable option to rising gas prices?

Well, imho we should be getting value for all the money we are blowing in Iraq. If we are going to occupy why F around.?Take over and subvert the entire mess over there and control the oil. Half of them hate us anyway so who cares. Nice low prices then except to all the others that would oppose us. :thumbdown:

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I wonder if that would be a viable option to rising gas prices?

 

Gas prices are going up - again - because every spring the refineries have to switch over to the summer blend, meaning they increase the ethanol content, which causes all sorts of problems because ethanol is hyrdophillic, so they have to make sure that their refining systems are clean and dry, moreso than they used to with MTBE. Hence, it takes longer to switch over than it did five or so years ago, hence refineries are down longer in the spring, hence supply gets tighter, hence prices spike every April and May...

 

 

...lather, rinse, repeat. Every single spring I point out that gas prices spike in April and May because of the switch in blends. For the record: gas prices will spike in the spring of 2009, as they switch to the summer blends.

 

You want to lower the price of gas? Stop putting !@#$ing corn in it. :thumbdown:

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Gas prices are going up - again - because every spring the refineries have to switch over to the summer blend, meaning they increase the ethanol content, which causes all sorts of problems because ethanol is hyrdophillic, so they have to make sure that their refining systems are clean and dry, moreso than they used to with MTBE. Hence, it takes longer to switch over than it did five or so years ago, hence refineries are down longer in the spring, hence supply gets tighter, hence prices spike every April and May...

 

 

...lather, rinse, repeat. Every single spring I point out that gas prices spike in April and May because of the switch in blends. For the record: gas prices will spike in the spring of 2009, as they switch to the summer blends.

 

You want to lower the price of gas? Stop putting !@#$ing corn in it. :thumbdown:

Tell that to the tree-huggers here. They've been mixing corn in ours since January. Our gas prices have jumped a kajillion dollars since then while millage/per gallon has decreased. :devil:

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Gas prices are going up - again - because every spring the refineries have to switch over to the summer blend, meaning they increase the ethanol content, which causes all sorts of problems because ethanol is hyrdophillic, so they have to make sure that their refining systems are clean and dry, moreso than they used to with MTBE. Hence, it takes longer to switch over than it did five or so years ago, hence refineries are down longer in the spring, hence supply gets tighter, hence prices spike every April and May...

 

 

...lather, rinse, repeat. Every single spring I point out that gas prices spike in April and May because of the switch in blends. For the record: gas prices will spike in the spring of 2009, as they switch to the summer blends.

 

You want to lower the price of gas? Stop putting !@#$ing corn in it. :thumbdown:

 

It sounds like you're describing Sam Adams Seasonal Brews.

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