Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon?

[AmericanBushi]

Predictions are saying over $4 per gallon by this summer (already there in some areas). How will we react to $7-10 per gallon!

Article:

http://www2.nysun.com/article/75363

Quote:

Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions — a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon.

[krakknisse]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon !?!?!?

Predictions are saying over $4 per gallon by this summer (already there in some areas). How will we react to $7-10 per gallon!
Article:
http://www2.nysun.com/article/75363
Quote:
Get ready for another economic shock of major proportions — a virtual doubling of prices at the gas pump to as much as $10 a gallon.

Well, some smart fellow on ITulip previously posted that we/the sheeple could always handle $150 or $200 oil (couldn't find that post even though I searched for it). It is the shortages that is the problem - you can't get it, whatever the price. Then the pitchfork crowd really comes out.

They're getting a taste of that over in Scotland, due to local problems (link below). But with these kind of volatility and self-rectal visualization :rolleyes: among TPTB, expect more of those kinds of shortages as the problems deepen:
Bloomberg: Pumps in Scotland Run Dry as Oil Strike Prompts Vehicle Queues

PS: I prefer links in the above format, so I don't have to see the messy URL. It's easy to do.

[RebbePete]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon !?!?!?

Things are starting to come a little unhinged even at $4 a gallon, nu?

Possible short-term effects:

• Reduction in discretionary driving, which may slow price increases some. Collateral damage: reduction of business in restaurants, big malls, tourist trade.
• Reduction in discretionary spending due to a larger and larger portion of the budget being taken up by gas prices
• Clamor for better mass transit: buses (easy to implement), rail lines (very hard to build the infrastructure)
• More reliance on telecommuting where possible

Possible long term effects:

• Destruction of the suburban lifestyle made possible by cheap gas. Return to "small town" living, with production, consumption and housing within walking or bicycling distance
• Rebuilding of mass transit infrastructure, with the return of light rail/trolleys in remaining urban environments
• Reliance on much smaller commuter vehicles (three wheel electrics, etc.) or human-powered (e.g. bicycles) for local travel.
• Reversal of globalization of manufactured goods because of the high cost of transporting them

Think of the US circa 1910 with the addition of the internet for telecommuting. IMHO, anyway. Not all that unpleasant once we get there, but transitioning will be exceedingly painful.

- Pete

[Mega]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon !?!?!?

Home production of E85!

40 gallon drum
Charles803still

You get the picture.
Mike

[Guest]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon?

This should clear the streets of some of the ridiculous mid-day wanderers that have our streets clogged.

I heard someone suggest once that cars come with a meter like a cab that tallies how much each trip is costing the driver. With mundane vehicles costing 50 cents a mile to own and operate, and luxury vehicles over 85 cents a mile, people might have gotten a clue earlier. But $6/gal gas may be what's required to get them to quit thinking of a car's cost only in terms of the "payment".

[GRG55]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon?

This should clear the streets of some of the ridiculous mid-day wanderers that have our streets clogged.

I heard someone suggest once that cars come with a meter like a cab that tallies how much each trip is costing the driver. With mundane vehicles costing 50 cents a mile to own and operate, and luxury vehicles over 85 cents a mile, people might have gotten a clue earlier. But $6/gal gas may be what's required to get them to quit thinking of a car's cost only in terms of the "payment".

$8.00 a gallon equivalent petrol in the UK didn't do it there. The streets of Central London remained clogged until the Congestion Charge was implemented. The villages are jammed with "Chelsea tractors", otherwise known as Range Rovers - try crossing the high street in Henley-on-Thames or Marlow mid-morning without getting run over.

But times, until recently, were pretty flush in the UK; especially in the City.

Seems the reaction you expect in the US has already backed up to the manufacturing level...

GM to Reduce 2008 Production by 138,000 Pickups, SUVs

By Jeff Green

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, said it's cutting production of 138,000 large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles this year at four plants in the U.S. and Canada because of slowing sales.

The plan trims about 10 percent of this year's estimated North American output of such vehicles and affects about 3,550 workers, GM said today. Shifts will be reduced in July at pickup plants in Flint and Pontiac, Michigan, and at an SUV factory in Janesville, Wisconsin, and in September at a truck plant in Oshawa, Ontario...

...GM is building fewer of the vehicles after its U.S. sales of light trucks tumbled 14 percent in the first quarter, as rising gasoline prices and a housing slump damped demand for large pickups and SUVs. The automaker's total U.S. sales fell 11 percent this year through March, more than the industrywide decline of 8 percent...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=aNL8A_H3YKkw

[touchring]

Re: Gas jumping to $7-$10 per gallon?

Most developed countries are already paying $200-$300 a barrel of gasoline. It is only in America that there are minimum taxes on oil.