What if gas were $10 a gallon

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Kev, I guess you didn't read the reports today where the big oil conglomerates say they are just as much a victim as we are. Look out for the lightning, ya big liars! SOMETHING has gotta give! On another note, read today, too, that Congress is planning to start putting an additional excise tax on full-sized cars, trucks, vans, and SUV's starting next year. All in the name of fuel efficiency. Sounds like they're planning on squeezing out the domestic manufacturers in favor of the imports.
 
If gas hits 10 bucks a gallon.......hmmmmmm I'll declare the 5th on what I'd do.



I think Caymen is right....there will be a need for more refer boxes for most of us.
 
Can anyone say USA lifestyle will be a third world country. We will have a split in the classes, like those countries we pump $$ into that hate us..:angry:
 
oil closed at 133 a barrel today, exxon posted 40 billion in profits, we the consumers have got to break the the backs of the oil companys.

Ride your bikes, overinflate your tires within reason, stay off the skinny pedal, forget perf mods, walk to the grocery store and get some excersize, lose some wgt.

Donate the trac to some charity (is becoming non-saleable), buy a vespa.

This is not going to get any better.
 
Spaceman Spiff says:
Don't think anyone REALLY believes this will happen...
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Sure it will.



Based on the doubling of gas prices over the past 4 years it will be $10 by 2013 (based on my not-so-scientific projections). Sure, it might take longer than that, but then again, it might not. Even if it does take a little longer, then how much longer?



The question isn't IF, but WHEN.



TJR



 
Well, it is already $8.50/gal here, so I guess I would just continue driving this, which gets between 45-50 mpg. Average wage here is around $700/month and no catastrophe has befallen Poland. In fact, their currency is killing the dollar and Euro this year.



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Nelson,

Thank you (sincerely) for the world perspective. Americans tend to be myopic in their views of cause and effect, and economics. That having been said, for fuel to triple in price here without a commensurate rise in salaries or other economic indicators would have serious effects on food prices and employment. The standard of living would have to adjust downward to compensate. That isn't attractive, but it isn't life threatening either. Most of us have parents or grandparent's who lived thru the depression. They'd not choose to experience it again, but they know it is not the end of the world, only the relatively easy life as we know it.
 
Average wage here is around $700/month and no catastrophe has befallen Poland. In fact, their currency is killing the dollar and Euro this year.
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I'd be willing to bet that their tax system is lower or more fair than ours.



Americans tend to be myopic in their views of cause and effect, and economics. That having been said, for fuel to triple in price here without a commensurate rise in salaries or other economic indicators would have serious effects on food prices and employment. The standard of living would have to adjust downward to compensate.
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Call me myopic then, but I don't think any of that is the least bit necessary.

Gas prices are high in Europe because it's always been taxed a lot to support mass transit...which works fine in some parts of the U.S. but is impractical in other parts.



If gas were $10 a gallon here, I'd be out of business, bankrupt, and on welfare. No one would pay me what I'd have to charge to send my people out on a job and my customers wouldn't have any spare money left anyway.
 
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Gas prices have doubled in the last 4 years, but salaries haven't, and as many have said in other threads most Americans aren't hurting that much from the increases.



Fast forward another 5 years, assuming the same increase rate as the last 4 and we will be at $10/gallon, and again, I'm not so sure that many people will have it that difficult.



Sure, SUVs and trucks as a single passenger vehicle will have fallen by the wayside; many Americans will drop down to one car; carpooling will kick in and more people will take mass transit, but for the most part, other than the end of the love-affair with the car and cheap gas, I don't see the "American way of life" being threatened that much.



TJR
 
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I guess I wouldnt get rid of the scooter i bought to get me to and from school, which i planned on selling after I graduated. It does 80 M.P.H. and gets 65-70 M.P.G.(I want to get a license plate frame along the lines of "suck it prius"), I havent touched the trac in a month because of gas prices. If gas got to $10 bucks a gallon it would cost me $30 a week in fuel.
 
oil closed at 133 a barrel today, exxon posted 40 billion in profits, we the consumers have got to break the the backs of the oil companys.

Ride your bikes, overinflate your tires within reason, stay off the skinny pedal, forget perf mods, walk to the grocery store and get some excersize, lose some wgt.

Donate the trac to some charity (is becoming non-saleable), buy a vespa.

This is not going to get any better.
Click to expand...



Remember that the stock market is the one that ends up setting the costs of oil with it's speculators, not the oil company itself. Oil is a publicly traded commodity, which I think is a large part of the problem.



You are correct though, riding bikes, walking, buying fuel efficient vehicles will all help keep your own costs down. That is what they do in Europe.
 
They also have a reliable, safe, and economical public transportation available to them.

Something we don't have.
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Caymen, I didn't say use transit, although I do agree with your statement. Bill and I mentioned riding bikes, walking and buying fuel efficient vehicles. All things that North Americans can do.
 
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I'd be willing to bet that their tax system is lower or more fair than ours.
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They pay 22% sales tax on almost everything they buy, plus there is a national income tax on top of that, similar to ours. I prefer our tax system. Easilt 25-30% of everything they earn goes to the national treasury, and they don't even get free medical or a decent retirement from it. They even have to buy their children's books in public schools. I did this for my daughter and the books are similarly priced to college textbooks.



Many people here say things were better under the communists. However, the economy is building at a pretty good pace here now, so I think things will be much better in five years. I have noticed a big difference in things in just the past 18 months.



Gas prices will only cause us to travel in more efficient ways. Americans love their independence and prefer driving themselves over taking public transportation. Even on vacation, we prefer to be independent. Just think of this Memorial Day weekend. How many boats, campers and RVs do you see out there? Some people drive 1000 miles hauling these boats and small houses along with them. How inefficient is that? Wouldn't it be easier and better to rent a boat wherever you are going, or fly to your destination and take a hotel, or stay with friends?



My dad has a huge trailer he pulls with his Suburban. It is half the size of the mobile home we used to live in when I was a kid. He drags that thing across the country and then parks it either at a friend/relatives house or in a camp ground. This thing is so big and nice I could live in it year-round. I cannot imagine I will ever do anything like that. Perhaps if I retire and decide to just sell my house and roam the country I could do it, but If I already own a place to live, I will never drive a house around the country like that.

 
How inefficient is that? Wouldn't it be easier and better to rent a boat wherever you are going, or fly to your destination and take a hotel, or stay with friends?
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Even with gas prices as high as they are, towing or driving an RV is still cheaper than a hotel room.



Not everyone has friends whereever they want to go and not everyone wants to stay with friends.





Tom
 
There are so-called experts that are now prdicting that gas may be as much as $12 a gallon my the end of the year, and $6 by the end of this summer, and oil will be $200 a barrel.



I don't think many of us will be here to experience the global warming, the astroid or coment that's supposed to hit someday. Nor will we be around to se the Tusnami, Earthquake, or Volcano that will end it all.



...Rich
 
Caymen said:
Even with gas prices as high as they are, towing or driving an RV is still cheaper than a hotel room.
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I suspect that there are situations in which that may be the case.



However, I also assume that it isn't true in all cases.



Seems to me it all depends on:



- Typical miles driven per day



- Cost of the hotel/motel you would feel comfortable staying in



- Size and MPG rating of the RV, which of course is less if you additionally tow an econo box for local travel at night.



- The cost of an RV camp or similar for the night (yeah, I know you can always park at a WalMart but then one is kind of a dirtbag if they don't buy something there, and if you buy something there then you help China and if you help China then gas prices go up).



- Potential cost savings of eating more meals in the RV and less out



So, depending on which way you go (rv or small car and hotel) then these factors apply, or not and those that apply tip in favor of your choice, or not.



I've seen some monsterous motor homes that get 10mpg. An econo car can get 30mpg. Assuming 450 miles driven a day (a long day), the RV takes 45 gallons while the car would take 15. 30 gallons of fuel is the difference, and at $4/gallon that a $120 for hotel and food. Red Roof Inn, and others can all be had for that price, or less (to offset food). Some cities you will pay more to stay and eat, others less.



Again, it all depends.



Unfortunately in life, there are few absolutes.



TJR
 
My dad paid $40K for his small house he pulls along. I am trying to figure out how many nights he would have to stay in a hotel to save that much money. An easy calculation at $100/night is 400 nights in a hotel. This doesn't include interest on the loan, insurance on the trailer, maintenance, fuel, etc. I suspect a person would have to live in the thing for two full years to save enough to justify the cost.
 
OTOH, I read two different analysts in the Wall Street Journal who say current oil prices are a bubble and it'll drop to $80 a barrel soon. I hope they're right but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm thinking if it gets high enough, people will get (rightly) mad as hell at the govt and not going to take it any more and demand that we drill for our own.

This is why in a perverse sort of way I think that Hillary might be the best President for us right now. You know she's got too much ego to have a bad economy under her watch and she'll kick the greenies to the curb if they're going to make her look bad. Whoever wins will only have a year or two to blame Bush for everything, after that it's all on them.
 

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