Dave_Schuldt Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I'am listening to NPR and the polititions babble on about doing someting about the price of gas. It sounds very dumb because there's not much they can do. The one thing they did do was start a war that makes the Mid East more unstable. Thanks Bush, you moron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 - If oil company profits are too high, what is the proper level of profit they should make? - Should these rules apply to Yahoo! and other companies who also has record profits? - What should we say to the retirees that have stock in those companies, and depend on profits and a solid stock price that the government will now limit what they can get in retirement benefits? Â This is all displaced outrage. I agree on the war thing to some degree, but we don't need government deciding how much profit a business should make. The 8.5% profit that the industry is now averaging is not excessive. Â Executive compensation? Please. Pay them all a dollar and it will have virtually no effect on gas prices. Then watch their performance slide. Â This whole thing is silly. If you don't like paying for gas at these prices, then don't. Walk, ride your bike, go biodiesel...whatever. We all have choices. Â Is America addicted to oil? Absolutely. But until we get a conscience and collectively decide that we shouldn't consume at this rate, this will keep going. Perhaps alternative fuels and fuel cell development has a chance to expand in this environment. But any company planning on doing so better not make any profit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinfox Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I agree with the French gully guy. Â As much as I dislike high gas prices and the fact that they may change my plans for a summer roadtrip, I'm hopeful that this will change the cost/benefit ratio of alternative energy R&D/implementation enough that we'll get some new technologies out of this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I wonder why the only thing they can do is babble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I wonder why the only thing they can do is babble That's classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archenemy Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 great article. Â And if everyone who bitched about Microsoft switched to LINUX, the world would be a more efficient place as well. Â Here at club cc.com, we solve problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dberdinka Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I want my $100. Â Fuckin Idiots..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 The horse got out of the barn a long time ago when the government allowed all the big oil company mergers. Now that there is reduced competition, you see the result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I'm left wondering if the politicians proposing these market interventions are actually stupid enough to believe in them, or if they are convinced that the vast majority of the electorate is ecomically illiterate, and that they simply have to pander to them. I expect that there will be plenty of responses on this thread that vindicate the latter view. Â "We are in favor of legislation that eliminates the price signal, and thereby discourages conservation, eliminates incentives for increased efficiency, and an expansion of supply. Vote for us." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 the vast majority of the electorate is ecomically illiterate, and that they simply have to pander to them  it's worked since Reagan, why change now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 The horse got out of the barn a long time ago when the government allowed all the big oil company mergers. Now that there is reduced competition, you see the result. Really? There certainly doesn't seem to be a shortage of oil companies. And they're scattered all over the world. Hardly under the legislative influence of the US government. Â Compare that to the number of companies that make computer chips, Intel, IMD and a few other small ones?? That "monopoly" only seems to be driving prices down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Really? There certainly doesn't seem to be a shortage of oil companies. And they're scattered all over the world. Hardly under the legislative influence of the US government. You have as much clue about the shape of the oil industry as cbs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Really? There certainly doesn't seem to be a shortage of oil companies. And they're scattered all over the world. Hardly under the legislative influence of the US government. You have as much clue about the shape of the oil industry as cbs! Well, at least we have you to straighten us all out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I say we invade Alaska. I hear they have plenty of oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Well, at least we have you to straighten us all out. Lesson 1: Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd. is not in the same league as Saudi Aramco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Lesson 1: Gujarat Oleo Chem Ltd. is not in the same league as Saudi Aramco No kidding? Â CBS was suggesting that the oil industry was limited to just a couple of players. I was just pointing out that there were a lot of companies in the business. Of course some have much more influence over the others. But none of them operate in a competition free market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 But none of them operate in a competition free market. OPEC? Â Oh, that's right this is the energy business where nobody has ever acted anticompetitively and manipulated the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archenemy Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I say we invade Alaska. I hear they have plenty of oil. I think your humor is underappreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couloir Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 OPEC? Of which Azerbaijan, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Oman Yemen, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Ecuador, East Timor, Australia, Brunei and Kazakhstan are not members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 niether is Alaska. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucK Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Say It With Me: Supply and Demand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 OPEC? Of which Azerbaijan, Norway, Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, the United States, Oman Yemen, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil, Ecuador, East Timor, Australia, Brunei and Kazakhstan are not members.  Please compare and contrast proven reserves and wellhead extraction cost in those countries to those in the Middle East  Or simply note OPEC has 2/3 of the world proven reserves and provides 50% of it's oil exports. That's pricing power. Except apparently if you live in Couloir fantasy land. Sure there are market forces at work. To describe the oil industry landscape as a free market is farcical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crux Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I wonder why the only thing they can do is babble--"By comparison, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was a model of conservation. She told a staffer idling in a Jetta to leave without her, then ducked into a sushi restaurant for lunch before making the journey back to work." Hey, that's me with Cantwell in the sushi restaurant, all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I wonder why the only thing they can do is babble--"By comparison, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) was a model of conservation. She told a staffer idling in a Jetta to leave without her, then ducked into a sushi restaurant for lunch before making the journey back to work."That's me with Cantwell in the sushi restaurant, all the way. Â thought you were driving the suburban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 The horse got out of the barn  in Enumclaw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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