At this rate we will be paying $5/gallon by summer

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Across the last week this time gas was $3.42. Then it popped up to $3.69 last Friday. Today it is $3.95.

In less than a week it went up .53 cents. The summer season has not even kicked into high gear. The season won't even get out neutral if the oil companies continue to pick our pockets.

No matter how you slice it I don't like it at all. Something is morally wrong with this situation! The economy just can't handle this much longer before some serious inflation kicks in.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Whattaya mean before inflation kicks in ? Haven't you noticed that eggs, milk, pasta, coffee, rice and just about everything else has gotten rather expensive ?

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

DW does the food shopping. I just pay the CC bill, so I don't compare prices. Filled up the van last weekend, 26 gals the total came to over $100 for the first time ever.

[funtime2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close funtime2]

Wonder how this will affect vacations? I know that I am not planning much other than what is already in place which is a trip to Myrtle Beach and then one to HH.

[basham Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close basham]

With the price of gas I think it is only a reflection of the dismal state of the US dollar and the running of current account trade deficits.

Other currencies are seeing little movement.

Food inflation I don't know but am seeing the impact of it myself, with kids in college our food budget remained the same as two kids left, leaving 3 of 5 people for the same dollars. Now the misses wants an increase, and not just a small adjustment.

[Faust Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Faust]

CA Station Sells Gas For $5 A Gallon

Gas prices in California are at an all-time high. The statewide average price for a gallon of regular is now 58 cents more per gallon, than the same time last year.

But, there is one place on the Central Coast where you can expect to pay more than $5 a gallon. The Americo gas station in the tiny coastal town of Gorda, about 40 miles south of Big Sur, is selling gasoline for $5.19 a gallon for regular, and $5.39 for premium.

Despite high prices, the local gas stop grabs customers, without any competition. And according to locals, the pain at the pump isn't over yet... as they plan to raise the prices another 20 cents in the coming weeks.


$3..$4..$5../gallon! Who Killed the Electric Car?

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Why are all the liberals crying? They should be dancing in the street. $5/gallon gas will do more to reduce our reliance on foreign oil than any scare tactics Al Gore can drum up regarding Global Warming.

The green movement should be thrilled. Alternative energies and oil conservation will now kick in more strongly than ever before. Watch.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

This is not the political forum-if you want a political discussion - start one there.

[johnmfaeth Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close johnmfaeth]

I don't think either party can take the credit or all the blame for the fact that oil prices are pretty much unchanged in terms of the Euro for example. The dollar is just in a freefall slide. Saying that oil went up is a poor way to put it. Same with Gold, Silver, Imported food, an expresso in Milan if you have only dollars in your pocket, etc.

[bnoble Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bnoble]

Re: food

I did hear a short bit on NPR that had anecodtal evidence of people in the US stockpiling staples---rice, etc. If folks get it in their heads that they have to start doing that, it won't be good.

-brian, who hasn't shopped for tonight's dinner yet...

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Try having a piece of furniture delivered......We've been getting outrages delivery bills for furnishings. Our clients are flipping.

PS....Oh yeah, and don't ask what Italian & French bread now cost in my bakery. Sheesh!

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

I was watching the news a while back and heard the President say that he had not heard that gas prices would be going to $4.00 a gallon. He asked the reporter, where did you get that information?

On a news report recently, I heard that McCain would propose dropping or reducing the federal gas tax, which of course drops the prices so people can drive more, which burns more gas, which increases our need for foreign oil.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

I don't think either party can take the credit or all the blame for the fact that oil prices are pretty much unchanged in terms of the Euro for example. The dollar is just in a freefall slide. Saying that oil went up is a poor way to put it. Same with Gold, Silver, Imported food, an expresso in Milan if you have only dollars in your pocket, etc.

Okay, I'll make this purely economics based.

Yeah, but the inflation in commodities is due to the falling dollar. The value of the dollar is driving by confidence in the currency as measured by trade deficits, fiscal budget deficits and investment attractiveness in the US.

The trade deficit is on the American people for buying foreign goods and living beyond their means for so many years. It should change as everything becomes more expensive from the weak dollar. Fiscal budget deficit is due to the President and Congress. Cutting taxes and increasing spending is leading to budget deficits that are severely impacting the value of the dollar. This may be finally coming home to Roost after 25 years of no impact. Investment attractiveness is partially the President and the Fed chairman. Tricky set of circumstances to navigate there.

Whoever becomes the next President is going to have a really tough time coming up with economic policy that will avert major disaster. At this time, I don't see any way to avoid stagflation. High inflation and low growth.

My guess is that we will need to start with a strong dollar policy. That would need to be the nation's imperative. Politically, that would mean the economy would have to take precedence over the war on terror and in Iraq. We would have to improve relations with foreign countries. We would have to trim the federal budget deficit. We would have to make more products for export. We would need to have competitive infrastructure for future investments here in the US.

Once the world believes and we act like we want a strong dollar, then the dollar can strengthen and put a floor in a bunch of these markets. If the dollar strengthens, the price of oil will come down along with commodities.

In historical context, we need to understand that we have had several major shocks to our economy over the past 10 years and we were able to weather the storm each time.

First, it was the telecom and high tech stock market bubble that burst.

Then, it was 9/11, which was a double wammy on an already weak stock market. The tax cuts and low interest rates averted a major distaster, but created a different problem... A real estate bublle.

Then, we went to War. That threw out fiscal budget responsibility.

Then, the real estate bubble burst.

Now, we are left with weak dollar and getting weaker leading to extremely high commodity prices. No confidence is real estate. Little confidence in the stock market. Low interest rates, so low interest in a once safe haven of US treasury bills. This is very bad.

I don't see any of the 3 Presidential candidates as being strong enough in their economic policy to avert a distaster. I really hope I am wrong.

[Keitht Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Keitht]

Sticking to the subject of the original post, I'll do my bit to make you guys in the US of A feel better. Highest price currently recorded in the UK equates to roughly $9.50 per US gallon for diesel and $9.00 for normal petrol (gas).

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

Sticking to the subject of the original post, I'll do my bit to make you guys in the US of A feel better. Highest price currently recorded in the UK equates to roughly $9.50 per US gallon for diesel and $9.00 for normal petrol (gas).

Thank you for posting this, Keith. Sometimes is seems that people here in the US don't realize that other countries have been paying much more than us for decades, and somehow life goes on for those people.

$5/gal. gas is not the end of the world. It will entice people to think a bit more before they fire up the big SUV for that third trip to the grocery store in a week. Or to pick up their kids from school when they could easily ride a bike or walk (Side note: I can't believe how many "soccer moms" from my neighborhood (less than 1/4 mi. from the school) are lined up every day, big V8 engines idling, waiting to pick up their kids after school. Unbelievable! In the meantime, I either ride a bike or walk, and we get back to our house before them because there is a shortcut w/ the bike path.).

And better yet, they will realize that maybe, just maybe, they don't really NEED an SUV or minivan for their 2.2 kids. Until it really hurts people where it counts (in the pocketbook), it seems that people just don't care how inefficient their gas consumption is. And then they cry "the economy can't take it" and try to blame anyone (president, congress, other scapegoats) except themselves for our years of over-consumption.

JMHO,
Kurt