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I think that Hubbard's theory of peak oil is not only being proven just now with rising oil and gas prices, but back in the 70s. He predicted that U.S. oil fields would begin to decline at that point, and he was right. Every year since, our dependence on foreign oil has grown. And yes, now we're in competition with China and India for a finite resource. Oil wars in the future? It could happen.
At the very least, as the prices for oil and subsequently food rise, life in the U.S. will be very different, so different that I can't even wrap my mind around it. Our entire economy is based on cheap transportation. You take that away, and it's a complete paradigm shift. I read somewhere that the U.S. can only support 2/3 of the current population if oil becomes too expensive/scarce for modern farming to be profitable. Now that's scary.
I see you live in California. Where you live how viable would Mass Transit be to move people to and from their places of work?
Also what do you think about the possibility of scooters becoming a major mode of transportation? It is all the rage in Europe an Asia. I am starting to see a LOT of news articles touting these things so I am interested to see how they will take off over the next decade.
Wild Style, I live 12 miles from work. A bicycle or scooter might be feasible, yes. However, because the cost of housing in Los Angeles is so high, there are many people who commute 50, 60, even 100 miles to work every single day. I know someone who fills up the tank in his pick-up truck every two days! He has two jobs, though, and one requires a lot of driving to places that are out in the middle of nowhere.
Europe as a whole is a lot smaller than the United States, so they don't have the distance problems when they're transporting goods, people, etc.
I do think that California, and Los Angeles in particular, need to get serious about ramping up public transportation, and I'm talking subways and trains, not buses!
Do you think subways are feasible there given earth quakes?
I think the next 10 yrs are going to really bring a TON of changes and innovation in this country.
I also think telecommuting is going to be HUGE. I saw where they are rolling out 50 mb broadband to all of NYC via verizon's new FIoS service. I think the govt is starting to pave the way. The same is being done in Seattle and Portland and God knows where else.
Bernanke earnt the "Helicopter Ben" tag after a speech in 2002. Referring to comments by Milton Friedman, who had suggested the US could use a "helicopter drop of money" to avoid deflation, he argued: "The US government has a technology called a printing press that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."
Bernanke earnt the "Helicopter Ben" tag after a speech in 2002. Referring to comments by Milton Friedman, who had suggested the US could use a "helicopter drop of money" to avoid deflation, he argued: "The US government has a technology called a printing press that allows it to produce as many US dollars as it wishes at essentially no cost."
There is no rationing required because there is no shortage.
Fuel is up because of supply and demand, the dollar, and specualtion.
There is nothing in the world better to invest in then something that people need, and yes, people for the most part need fuel. Why do you think medical companies are always a good buy? Because they also produce things people will get and pay whatever price to have.
Sure, fuel is not on the level of life saving drugs, but it is on the same level for many people as electricity is, if not even above that.
Prices will stabalize and come down when the threat of lower profits come into play from reduced demand.
As of now, fossil fuels are still the cheapest forms of energy available.
Europe has always had high fuel prices, I lived in the UK for a few years and it did not bother me, but of course they have a superior mass transit system where as America doesn't, and the ones that America does have are mostly associated with poor people and crime.
Plus as of now, it still is not economically feasable for people to trade in thier gas guzzlers for a compact car. For me, I drive an explorer, it gets 16/21mpg, it is paid for, the sales tax I would have to pay if I traded in for another higher mpg car alone would buy gas for my explorer for about 18 months. That is just assuming I got a straight trade, which for anything with low miles I would still have to pay cash or get a loan, so where is the financial benefit for me?
I have wrote to my state rep and the govenor about suspending the sales tax on cars so people can have some sort of opportunity and relief to trade in their gas guzzlers, but it will never happen because the state loves the tax money both on sales and fuel.
As note, I bought my explorer for job reasons, I had to travel around and transport sensative electronic testing equipment, I have since quit the job and gone back to school but still stuck with the gas guzzler, I prefer to have a smaller car but it is not financially feasable to me to trade it in as I would still incur more money out of my pocket then if I just kept the explorer, I beleive that is a situation many people are in.
Anyhow, I would be surprised if Gas got much above $5 a gallon here. I think people forget there are actually alternatives fuels what will become viable once gas gets that expensive. Actually they are already viable, but the future outlook isn't clear enough to invest billions into infrastructure to do it.
Thank you for being the first rational poster here . That was my first thought! Alternative fuels are already viable, it's just getting the auto industry to actually buy into them and start building their cars to support them!
What alternative fuels would those be? I have not seen or heard of any viable alternative fuels that are readily available.
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. That was my first thought! Alternative fuels are already viable, it's just getting the auto industry to actually buy into them and start building their cars to support them!
