What do people think of gas prices?

[Chad]

You misunderstood my point.

quote:Originally posted by scoot

quote:Originally posted by Chad

 The solution to a problem is never going to be to discourage the efforts and employment/free market of those who may in fact be talented enough to find a better solution to it.

...which works fine for those talented enough to find a solution.  Too bad that the world is made up of those with more talent and those with less talent...   Shall we just say F-it to the people with less talent but who still try?  I don't think that's what our country is about.

[thelews]

quote:Originally posted by scoot
Too bad that the world is made up of those with more talent and those with less talent...  

Really?  We should all be of the same talent?

[scoot]

quote:Originally posted by thelews



Really?  We should all be of the same talent?

No.  But those with more talent might have to assume some social responsibility for those with less talent rather than just saying that they should have worked harder to make their lives better.

[DavidBrough]

I've recently changed the rear axle in my car from a 3.92 to a 3.46 and have just completed my first long journey of approx 200 miles and managed 27mpg with the A/C on for half the journey. Not bad as my previous average was 18/22mpg.

David Brough
1969 280Sl Auto with A/C & 3.46 Axle

[paulr]

congrats...welcome to the club.

quote:Originally posted by DavidBrough

I've recently changed the rear axle in my car from a 3.92 to a 3.46 and have just completed my first long journey of approx 200 miles and managed 27mpg with the A/C on for half the journey. Not bad as my previous average was 18/22mpg.

David Brough
1969 280Sl Auto with A/C & 3.46 Axle

[Cees Klumper]

I justify driving the Pagoda with its very poor (by today's standards) fuel economy in two ways:

(1) I drive it slow; driving at 55 MPH instead of 75 MPH makes a huge difference

(2) my daily driver gets excellent mileage (11 km per liter on average, including a lot of city driving) while my peers at work mostly drive cars that are much less fuel-efficient.

So I figure on average it balances out. Plus with the aesthetic benefits I provide for the environment ("My what a beautiful car you have!") I think that accounts for something as well.

[benzportland]

quote:Originally posted by cees klumper

I justify driving the Pagoda with its very poor (by today's standards) fuel economy in two ways:

(1) I drive it slow; driving at 55 MPH instead of 75 MPH makes a huge difference

(2) my daily driver gets excellent mileage (11 km per liter on average, including a lot of city driving) while my peers at work mostly drive cars that are much less fuel-efficient.

So I figure on average it balances out. Plus with the aesthetic benefits I provide for the environment ("My what a beautiful car you have!") I think that accounts for something as well.

Also our Pagodas are 100% "green" in that they are "recycled" cars, not rotting away in a landfill, and we did not cause another new car to be built by buying one  

[shaf]

Hi All, I was paying $2 a liter in UK. Until I moved to Dubai where I could get petrol for the same price as water about 40 cent a liter. I will let you know soon how much it will cost me to fill my pogada as it is ariving in mid July. As Jerry mentioned if US will not drill its own oil and rely on the middle east, I suppose every one in the west will suffer.

[jameshoward]

David,

I've followed your axel rebuild epic with interest. I am thinking that I should hold out for 1:3,29 (I have a 4.08 on my 230 SL). My car does 65 mph at 3500 rpm. What do you get now and what did you get before? In other words, can you tell me what difference in rpm for MPH you've seen with the change?

And are you going to the Brooklands event in Aug?

James

[seattle_Jerry]

I was just reading about a company that is developing genetically altered E. Coli bacteria that converts sugar to hydrocarbons. Their goal is a net zero carbon emmissions by having the sugar cane absorb the carbon emitted by using the fuel they produce.

They are in the process of building the industrial level processing and already have the E. Coli fuel makers at the lab level.

Their theory is that there are enough people working on hydro-carbon alternatives, so why not work on a better way to create what we already use.

[seattle_Jerry]

"As Jerry mentioned if US will not drill its own oil and rely on the middle east, I suppose every one in the west will suffer"

I'd say that everyone in the West will suffer for an extremely short time on Earth's time scale. It will even be a short time on the scale of recorded history.

What did the middle east have before oil as an export? What will it have after it is gone? Its oil boom will be a blink of the eye. I hope they have a backup plan.

On the upside...at least they won't have us sticking our noses in their business anymore.

[Sigman]

I will not be surprised to see gas prices as high as $20/gallon in the *near* future.  All due to the fact that the US Dollar's value is plummeting from the fed bailing out the banks, decreasing interest rates to stimulate borrowing (to name a few).  With the decreased value of the dollar, we will be paying more money for foreign oil. Keep in mind that as the feds increase the money supply, the dollar's value decreases even more (think about the law of supply and demand).  As the dollar value decreases even more, the cost of gas will surely increase to offset the cost.  The feds cannot sustain the economy by printing more money.  The entire market needs to balance out to get out of this debacle.  For it to balance out, interest rates need to increase by 20%, gas needs to increase by $20+/gallon.  The after effect will be severe unemployment (companies cannot borrow money at at too high of a rate) and the housing market will collapse even more since rates are too high. This is scary...

[benzportland]

quote:Originally posted by Sigman

I will not be surprised to see gas prices as high as $20/gallon in the *near* future.  All due to the fact that the US Dollar's value is plummeting from the fed bailing out the banks, decreasing interest rates to stimulate borrowing (to name a few).  The feds cannot sustain the economy by printing more money.  The entire market needs to balance out to get out of this debacle.  For it to balance out, interest rates need to increase by 20%, gas needs to increase by $20+/gallon.  The after effect will be severe unemployment (companies cannot borrow money at at too high of a rate) and the housing market will collapse even more since rates are too high. This is scary...

You are right, interest rates are usually crucial to inflation.  But, everything I have read lately suggests that the in the near future rates will climb, the dollar will rise, and inflation will ease.

[Sigman]

quote:Originally posted by benzportland

You are right, interest rates are usually crucial to inflation.  But, everything I have read lately suggests that the in the near future rates will climb, the dollar will rise, and inflation will ease.

You're correct (in a very simple explanation). Keep in mind that inflation hasn't really taken hold yet even tough we are experiencing it through increases in gas and food costs.  We are still at the tip of the iceberg.  Also as inflation grows, interest must grow proportionately.  No one will invest their money when interest rates are, say, 4% while inflation is at 12%.  

The feds have really screwed up royally. To properly balance the market, rates will need climb at a MUCH higher rate (at least 5x todays rate).  The dollar will only stabilize if the rates increase AND if the feds stop creating more money (i.e. the tax stimulus checks, bailing out more banks, etc).  The demand for the dollar is extremely low (i.e. CAD is at par with the USD) and it is expected to drop even more.  The oversupply of the USD will drive the internationals rates higher.

Yikes!

[benzportland]

From what I see inflation is at its highest so far this decade right now, and it will probably grow some, but most economists are saying there is no reason to believe it will grow exponentially.  Same for interest rates, raising them to 5x current is unlikely, and not necessary.  Under current circumstances it could kill GDP, which is critical.  Fortunately investing is still very high, just not in money markets and CD's.  Even when CD's were paying around 10% on average they were still a relatively terrible investment considering costs and taxes - no one truly built substantial capitol going that route.  There are strong advantages to decreasing rates, and we have experienced those.  Exports are much higher now and other currencies are actually falling as a result in many nations, so it is all relative.  

quote:


You're correct (in a very simple explanation). Keep in mind that inflation hasn't really taken hold yet even tough we are experiencing it through increases in gas and food costs.  We are still at the tip of the iceberg.  Also as inflation grows, interest must grow proportionately.  No one will invest their money when interest rates are, say, 4% while inflation is at 12%.  

The feds have really screwed up royally. To properly balance the market, rates will need climb at a MUCH higher rate (at least 5x todays rate).  The dollar will only stabilize if the rates increase AND if the feds stop creating more money (i.e. the tax stimulus checks, bailing out more banks, etc).  The demand for the dollar is extremely low (i.e. CAD is at par with the USD) and it is expected to drop even more.  The oversupply of the USD will drive the internationals rates higher.

Yikes!

[Sigman]

quote:Originally posted by benzportland

From what I see inflation is at its highest so far this decade right now, and it will probably grow some, but most economists are saying there is no reason to believe it will grow exponentially.  Same for interest rates, raising them to 5x current is unlikely, and not necessary.  Under current circumstances it could kill GDP, which is critical.  Fortunately investing is still very high, just not in money markets and CD's.  Even when CD's were paying around 10% on average they were still a relatively terrible investment considering costs and taxes - no one truly built substantial capitol going that route.  There are strong advantages to decreasing rates, and we have experienced those.  Exports are much higher now and other currencies are actually falling as a result in many nations, so it is all relative.  

Understood.  Keep in mind that in order to re-balance the system, drastic changes must occur.  No one is saving money in banks they may have investments but it does not drive the economy.  Those investments are moving to international waters where it is much more lucrative.  

The lower rates are more to benefit companies so they can borrow and grow their company and increase jobs...etc..etc.  Mortgage rates are indirectly affected by the lowering of the fed rates.  Look what happened to the housing market.  The banks AND buyers made critical errors in judgment.  That money they borrowed were all created out from thin air (i.e. 100% loans AND interest only options) and artificially inflated the housing market.  Once their loan reset, they cant keep their home.  Instead of making the banks and buyers pay for their mistakes and inevitably make the market balance itself out.  The feds bailed the banks out and gave the borrowers a reprieve.  Where did they feds get that money?  No where...  they just printed the money to pay them off.  How are we going to pay it all back?  The problems are still inherent and will not be solved by placing band aids.  The levees will eventually give way.  

What I'm saying about the future is worse case scenario but it is not unreasonable to think that.  Granted I was just a kid in the 80s, I heard that rates were as high as 20% around that time.. and the 70's too.  After that it took the economy to balance itself out.  

We're going to be on a bumpy ride!

[Mark280SL]

Not to sound too cynical but what I "think about gas prices" is that a relatively small number of people and compaines/some goverments worldwide are becoming tremendously wealthy at the expense of of the general population of the US and many other industrialzed countries. I simply cannot believe that oil prices are going up so high so fast based on the supply and demand model. Yes countries like India and China are consuming ever more oil but the tremendous run up that has occured over a short time during the past year is not happening simply because of supply and demand. In my opinion which I think is shared by many is that speculators, oil compaines, and other groups and goverments are taking deliberate actions to effect the market and those actions are solely intended to run up the price and benefit their respective bank accounts. The sad part is this is and will continue to have widespread negative impact on the economy. Millions of people will pay so a small number can rake in vast wealth. I'm fortunate to be in a good financial situation so I can weather this, at least for now.....But how are elderly people on fixed incomes going ro pay $5.00 a gallon and more for heating oil in the coming winter?? It's a sad situation and our political leaders need to do something to improve this situation or we will all be screwed.

OK That's my 2 cents! :-)

[waqas]

quote:Originally posted by Mark280SL

... a relatively small number of people and compaines/some goverments worldwide are becoming tremendously wealthy at the expense of of the general population of the US and many other industrialzed countries

They know time is running out, so they're trying to go out with a bang!  :twisted:

quote:... and our political leaders need to do something to improve this situation or we will all be screwed.

How can one hand curb the actions of the other?  [!] :evil:

Just my 429 cents (worth only about 17 miles).  :?

[Mark280SL]

maybe..... but I think we are the ones getting banged!

quote:Originally posted by waqas

quote:Originally posted by Mark280SL

... a relatively small number of people and compaines/some goverments worldwide are becoming tremendously wealthy at the expense of of the general population of the US and many other industrialzed countries

They know time is running out, so they're trying to go out with a bang!  :twisted:

quote:... and our political leaders need to do something to improve this situation or we will all be screwed.

How can one hand curb the actions of the other?  [!] :evil:

Just my 429 cents (worth only about 17 miles).  :?

[Mark280SL]

I kind of like this too...check it out.

www.pickensplan.com/

He may have ulterior motives but at least the guy has a plan. I haven't heard much from the other "leading experts" out there, if there is such a thing.

I don't know if I like the idea of a natural gas pagoda though??

[glennard]

What do I think of gas prices?  I think I am glad my Pagoda doesn't run on $15 a gallon Starbucks Lattes or I heat my house with $30,000 a gallon Chanel #5.  And that's what I think------If I could just get it to run on the BS on the TV.  250mpg.

[Mark280SL]

Channel #5 = Perfume Powered Pagoda

quote:Originally posted by glennard

What do I think of gas prices?  I think I am glad my Pagoda doesn't run on $15 a gallon Starbucks Lattes or I heat my house with $30,000 a gallon Chanel #5.  And that's what I think------If I could just get it to run on the BS on the TV.  250mpg.

[glennard]

Now that's a Chick Magnet!!!

[PnHi]

Intersting article (to me anyway).  The scariest part of the q&a concerning speculation was this.

 

quote:The institutional investors, which consist of but is not confined to state pension funds and university endowments from the United States, have been pouring funds into indexed commodity funds as part of a strategy of portfolio diversification.

The traditional assets, in which they would have otherwise invested in, namely stocks and bonds, have been yielding negative returns after inflation.

These investors can buy futures contracts with only a 5 per cent margin down payment. In addition the regulatory environment is very slack, filled with loopholes which bypass whatever few regulations that are on the books.

http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2008/07/200879184520258575.html

Wasn't it trading like this that brought about the depression in the late twenties?

Mike C.

[glennard]

Me thinks we should start a futures market in Pagodas--  The PPP-Predicted Pagoda Price.  Let's start bidding up the speculated price by at least double the current.  We'll do press releases - 'Supply is about to dry-up!' - 'Demand soars for Pagodas',  'Every Chinaman wants a 113', 'Brazilian repo maker unable to fill Pagoda orders',  'Government initiates rationing of Pagodas',  'Rich Qatari hoards thousands of Pagodas and refuses to sell', yada, yada, yada-------We're rich.