$2.99 a gallon without buying a new car
Thought the title might catch your eye. Not as well as Rat's posts do, but at least enough to get y'all to look a little further.
Ran across an interesting op-ed that says the way to reduce gas prices is through a lawsuit. By the state AG's against OPEC for anti-trust activity. If we had followed this essay's advice 10 or 15 years ago it might have made a difference. Even 5 years ago. But I don't think it would work at all now. The oil producing states have gained a degree of global economic power, and the weakened dollar along with American oil dependency have so eroded our ability to dictate terms in global economics, that even if successful, they all could tell us to go suck a lemon. And we'd have no recourse.
Of course, that would not be the case if the Fortune 500 corporations headquartered in the US were American companies with an allegiance to the nation and not the dollar. But the true reality is that whether it is Microsoft or ExxonMobil, RJR or KFC, the big dogs in our economy are multi-national corporations, not American. And most, in one way or another, are strongly influenced by sovereign investment funds wholly owned by various governments (Dubai, Russia, China, and other governments flush with cash). Whether or not this is morally right or wrong is best left for another post on the merits of free trade and global capitalism.
So friends, get ready for an onslaught of "solutions" proposed to bring us back to a world that never was and never again will be. The silly season has begun.
Ran across an interesting op-ed that says the way to reduce gas prices is through a lawsuit. By the state AG's against OPEC for anti-trust activity. If we had followed this essay's advice 10 or 15 years ago it might have made a difference. Even 5 years ago. But I don't think it would work at all now. The oil producing states have gained a degree of global economic power, and the weakened dollar along with American oil dependency have so eroded our ability to dictate terms in global economics, that even if successful, they all could tell us to go suck a lemon. And we'd have no recourse.
Of course, that would not be the case if the Fortune 500 corporations headquartered in the US were American companies with an allegiance to the nation and not the dollar. But the true reality is that whether it is Microsoft or ExxonMobil, RJR or KFC, the big dogs in our economy are multi-national corporations, not American. And most, in one way or another, are strongly influenced by sovereign investment funds wholly owned by various governments (Dubai, Russia, China, and other governments flush with cash). Whether or not this is morally right or wrong is best left for another post on the merits of free trade and global capitalism.
So friends, get ready for an onslaught of "solutions" proposed to bring us back to a world that never was and never again will be. The silly season has begun.
posted by Wake of the Flood at 8:52 AM
4 Comments:
and just wait until Labor Day when the Presidential Campaign season "officially" starts
Man, I can't even talk about the gas prices without feeling like I'm getting punched in the face. Oh, and it makes me feel old because I keep saying, "I remember when I bought my car it wsa only $14 something to fill up! And now it's over $50." I remember my grandparents always saying stuff like that.
$14 gets my wife to work ONE day -- when there's no traffic and she can just cruise easy...
Jeebus! $14 a day! That's nuts. I'm SO investing in a bike. Besides, I'll look all hardcore on a Harley, too. And man I love to ride! The car will have to be for when I have my son with.
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