This afternoon, I wrote a lengthy post about the gas crisis, and I proposed that the best solution to get us out of this mess would be a concerted national effort to ween ourselves off of oil and gas. I wrote: If a President were to annouce a serious national effort to develop new (and hopefully clean) technology for running … Read More
Why Are Gas Prices So High? (In Which I Solve The Problem)
Okay, since I’ve been on an economy/energy blogging tirade today, I think I’ll answer the question on every person’s mind: Why are gas prices so high? I’ve wondered this myself. Energy and economic aren’t my forte, but I’ve done a lot of reading on it lately, and I think I can boil it down to (admittedly oversimplified) layman’s terms. The … Read More
Inflation, Recession, Energy and Ecology Woes, Dogs Mating With Cats….
Inflation grows at fastest pace in 27 years Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up 9.2%, the largest year-over-year surge since June 1981. Gas and food prices are to blame, since "core inflation", the economic indicator which excludes energy and food, was better behaved in June, rising by just 0.2%. The main culprit is gas, I would think, … Read More
Milestone
I saw my first gas station with over $4.00 for a gallon of gas. It was $3.99 yesterday. Today it was $4.05. What’s particularly disconcerting is that five years from now, I will probably be amazed that gas prices were once as low as $4.00. UPDATE: Discovered this today….
I’m No Economist, But….
….this makes no sense to me. From Mike Allen’s piece just out in The Politico … The McCain administration would reserve all savings from victory in the Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the fight against Islamic extremists for reducing the deficit. Since all their costs were financed with deficit spending, all their savings must go to deficit reduction. What does … Read More
Shorter McCain Energy Policy
It’s this: "Fuck if I know, but if someone can build a better mousetrap, I’ll give them lots of money." That’s not an energy policy; that’s a game show. First of all, giving a $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size, capacity, cost and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug-in hybrids or … Read More
Bush Pusher
Tom Friedman is right: Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.” Actually, it’s more sophisticated than that: Get Saudi Arabia, our chief oil pusher, to up our … Read More
Tax Policies of McCain and Obama
The Tax Policy Center today released an exhaustive comparison of the tax plans of Barack Obama and John McCain. The graph below shows the change in income (up being more income, down being less income) under the Obama (blue) and McCain (reddish) tax plans. Bottom line: The people who need money the most will benefit most from Obama’s plan; the … Read More
How NOT To Deal With High Gas Prices
In Danville, California: A Danville woman faces arson charges after she allegedly set fires at two gas stations and a coffee house, saying she was protesting high gas prices. The woman, 64, remained Thursday in a Contra Costa jail on $810,000 bail on suspicion of premeditated arson and burglary. Police say the woman used a fireplace log and a lighter … Read More
$50.86
That’s how much I paid for gas this morning. First time I went over $50. Still, gotta love the hybrid…. CNN has an interesting story on the subject… Who’s To Blame For $4 Gas Prices have surged over the past four years – and there’s a bunch of reasons why. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — It’s hard to imagine now, but … Read More
An Open Statement Opposing Proposals for a Gas Tax Holiday
Here: In recent weeks, there have been proposals in Congress and by some presidential candidates to suspend the gas tax for the summer. As economists who study issues of energy policy, taxation, public finance, and budgeting, we write to indicate our opposition to this policy. Put simply, suspending the federal tax on gasoline this summer is a bad idea and … Read More
Gas Tax Holiday Argument Not Being Bought By Public
Well, well, well. Who knew? McCain and Clinton thought they could pander and buy votes by proposing a gas tax holiday over the summer months. Doesn’t look like the winning side, as people kind of understand that it is a quick fix to a larger problem, that doesn’t put much many in people’s pockets anyway. [UPDATE: No economist agrees with … Read More
McCain’s Gas Tax Holiday Plan
As a clear campaign ploy, McCain has proposed a gasoline tax “holiday” during the summer driving season. Basically, it means that federal taxes will be cut from the cost at the pump, thus making gas cheaper. Senator Clinton has endorsed a similar plan. Good idea? Nope: But economists and energy analysts say it would have little impact on mitigating the … Read More
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet
$7 a gallon in 5 years? As oil prices soared to record levels in recent years, basic economics suggested that consumption would fall and supply would rise as producers opened the taps to pump more. But as prices flirt with $120 a barrel, many energy specialists are becoming worried that neither seems to be happening. Higher prices have done little … Read More
Interesting But Ineffective Solution To The Gas Problem
Okay, then: Rocky Twyman has a radical solution for surging gasoline prices: prayer. Twyman – a community organizer, church choir director and public relations consultant from the Washington, D.C., suburbs – staged a pray-in at a San Francisco Chevron station on Friday, asking God for cheaper gas. He did the same thing in the nation’s Capitol on Wednesday, with volunteers … Read More