Asymmetrical Information

Not the first time that's been done, but sufficiently appropriate to be repeated as often as necessary :)

Still $1.84/9 - 1.97/9 per gallon here in the Denver area, depending on where you go. Wouldn't be surprised to discover two and a quarter at the out-of-the-way truckstops toward the eastern plains, though.

Yes, and, if adjusted for inflation, the prices aren't the highest they've ever been. And we atill pay less for gas than most other westernized countries.

{if this is posted twice in "preview mode" then Holoscan is screwed up as usual.)

Great screen name Jane!

Kate is correct, no inflation corrected increase in USA gasoline cost trends in the last 40-50 years. All sorts of rants and raves otherwise of course, bogus email boycott petitions (and similar spam). (AND JOURNALISTIC HOKUM, by which I mean that if they don't tell you that inflation adjusted gas prices are pretty much like 1970 or 1950, they're lying.)

Did I say LYING?, oh yes.

Wonder how many here know that (about) 10% of the total cost of running a car is fuel cost. With 'fuel price spikes' then it's - what - +12-13%? fuel cost. That increase is about .4% of your average total automobile cost. (by which I mean "4 tenths of one percent".) Almost NO CAR runs in the US for less than $.50 a mile, unless stolen, and many are $1 or more. So the 40 mile roundtrip drive to Aunt Mary's is likely to cost you in the $20-$40 range (even factoring in accidents). The fuel will be - gasp - in the $2-$4 range. Reality.

I think the best way to reduce auto costs is to reign in your initial purchase choice/price, often based on personal impulses (like, "it's pretty - or cute - or the right color for cutsy me", OR, - "it's BIG and POWERFUL and just right for the high testosterone, manly ME" - (that I'm trying to resemble). G

Just FYI, I paid $2.039 for regular this morning. Driving around, the lowest price I saw was 1.959, and I've seen 2.259.

Yes, G, the gas cost is a surprisingly small piece of the car cost picture. I was just recently looking at my car insurance, and I realized that (outside of one two-week period where I drove around the country) I always spend more on insurance than gas.

Best way to hold down overall costs is to buy a used car. Of course, the price is lower because of the increased risk of problems; I'm often working at home or in NYC, and either way can manage without a car for a while.

Still amazes me that so many people put higher octane gas than they need to in their cars. A coupel days ago, I gassed up my Mustang GT and a girl pulled in with same year and model, different color, and not the cool Bullitt rims that I am so lucky to have. She pulls the 92 hose and I asked her why she did that, as I had the 87 hose stuck in my car per manufacturers recommendation. She said she thought her car needed the expensive gas so it didn't get sludge deposits. Unreal. I should have asked her to buy me dinner since she's made of money!

Oh yeah, I am probably up over $2/mile still TCO of this car. Pricey but worth it :-).

Well, out here the cheapest I've found is $2.25/9, with premium as high as $2.78/9.

The environmentalist wackos are of course simply ecstatic that it takes $30+ to fill an SUV. Those of us on mimimum wage are not quite so cheerful.

Walking, any one?

I'm always surprised at how worked up folks can get about the weather and gasoline prices.

I drive between 25000 and 30000 miles per year, mostly highway miles. My car delivers about 22 mpg. I could drive a more gas efficient vehicle but at that amount of miles I want something road quiet, comfy, safe in most weather conditions, and with a rockin' audio system (Audi A6).

22mpg means that at $2.00/gallon I spend $0.09/mile, and $0.07/mile when gas is $1.50/gallon. Total annual cost of fuel, at 25000 total miles, is therefore $2,250 versus $1,750, respectively. Net difference is $500/year or $42/month or, about, $10/week... YAWN.

Does anyone know if it's supposed to rain today, cuz I got plans?

My English fiance was amused when I passed by a gas station selling gas for $1.95 because I knew I could get it for $1.85 closer to home. Gas is over $6/gallon in Britain. Nearly everything else is more expensive there too. Couldn't be related though. Nah.

Am I the only one who read the sign and thought that taking an Arm-and-nine-tenths would leave you no way to steer?

Or you could buy the premium instead: your remaining 0.1 leg won't reach the pedals, and you'll never have to fill up again.

Shell, I've always wondered why Europeans put up with such high gas taxes. My only conclusion, rather lame, is that they just don't know any better.

As you note, high gas taxes lead to high prices for everything else. It also leads to resource misallocation, as it gets too expensive to ship some things, and cheap land in the outer suburbs isn't developed because the commute costs too much. Granted, most of the repercussions are ones that enviros like, but the net result is to move us away from maximum utility.

One word, one syllable: Bike.

" Nearly everything else is more expensive there too."

Except groceries, shoes, leather and wool items.

"As you note, high gas taxes lead to high prices for everything else. "

And of course, the revenue generated by the gas tax doesn't go to public goods (like their health service), because once collected, it is burnt in a bonfire while singing hymns to Stalin.

Oh, and don't forget the 17.5% VAT.

Simon:

"One word, one syllable: Bike.

My response: 118F Phoenix summers. YOU ride a bike in that!

The “cost” to the economy in the price of gas is more then what we pay at the pump as individuals, it figures into everything. Efficiency is energy intensive. It’s more efferent to truck rather then to train goods so the higher fuel prices get baked into everything we buy. Our petroleum industry is heavily subsidized so the price we pay at the pump is not even a market rate.

Actually I would say the Euros have the right idea if the price of fuel is the taxes. They will be able to compensate for the cost of energy as it rises in the face of world competition and the dwindling rate at which oil can be physically sucked our of the ground. They will have economies that will be able to adjust better to higher energy costs and we will have to adapt. And that time will be sooner then most people think.

Oil doesn’t just sit in big underground lakes, as wells get older their daily yield declines and this decline gets dramatic after a wells reserves hit the 50% mark. Meanwhile the third world is starting to get the oil bug and demand rises. Indonesia recently had a month where they consumed more then they produced so they are not long for OPEC. Most OPEC nations cannot increase production so the quotas that you hear so much about are only theoretical for many of the OPEC members (they all cheat anyway).

And of course, the revenue generated by the gas tax doesn't go to public goods (like their health service), because once collected, it is burnt in a bonfire while singing hymns to Stalin.

Heh, I bet some would liken spending money on NHS to burning it in a bonfire will singing hymns to Stalin.

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