Kinda scary, not even Memorial Day yet

[Young Ed]

Keep it under 55 and I get high teens almost 20. Push that to 60-65 and it drops off quite a bit.

[H Suhling]

$ 4.12 in beautiful downtown Hardin, IL only gas station in Calhoun County.

Harvey

Edited April 10, 2012 by H Suhling
spelling

[40P10touring sedan]

Keep it under 55 and I get high teens almost 20. Push that to 60-65 and it drops off quite a bit.

Heck, my daily driver 99 gran voy does that with a 3.3 V6 and OD...makes ya wonder what all this modern computerized fuel injection and multiport technology is really worth some days when compared to old cars.

[plyroadking]

Keep it under 55 and I get high teens almost 20. Push that to 60-65 and it drops off quite a bit.

If I keep my foot out of it I usually run a consistent 24-26 highway mpg at 70mph, with od and a 3.73 ratio diff. Sure is nice after fueling the '86 K30 big block for the last 4 months

[austinsailor]

If I'm worried about mileage, I drive my 2006 Insight, gets 60 MPG, more if I dog it. If I want to have fun, I drive one of my 2 old mopars.

[greg g]

So when I graduated from HS and got a fulltime job, my gas bill was about 6 bucks a week. Now it's about 50. If I do the percentages, relative to income level it ain't changed but a couple % points. So taking in 46 years of inflation, I guess it ain't as bad as it looks on its face.

Besides we just paid off our mortgage a bit early and that gives us a bit more pocket change to deal with.

Not saying I like to se it starting with 4 but it is what it is. Only question I gotta ask is what is BIG OIL doing with their billions in subsidies, because they sure aren't biulding or rehabing refineries, there are thousnads of exploration lease parcells laying fallow, and imports of crude are down and exports of refined product are up.

So it isn't supply and demand, it isn't commodity price supports, it isn't that the Oil Companies have out ragious expenses compared to a few years ago. Ad now Counties and states are cashing in on what amounts to tax increases since it based on percetage of sale not cents per gallon. Taxes and speculation have more to do with the price at the pump that actual market factors.

Time to invade Canada and take over where most of our imports come from.

[Roadkingcoupe]

Time to invade Canada and take over where most of our imports come from.

Timely idea, 200 years after the war of 1812!

[greg g]

Perhaps we'd get it right this time............

[T120]

So it isn't supply and demand, it isn't commodity price supports, it isn't that the Oil Companies have out ragious expenses compared to a few years ago. Ad now Counties and states are cashing in on what amounts to tax increases since it based on percetage of sale not cents per gallon. Taxes and speculation have more to do with the price at the pump that actual market factors.

...The term "robber baron" comes to mind

[martybose]

I always find it interesting that people get indignant about the price of gasoline, yet have no qualms about the price of soft drinks. The soft drink manufacturers don't have to have billion dollar refineries to make their product, yet the price is almost identical. Kinda makes you think a little .......

Marty

[Young Ed]

But no one has to buy a softdrink. I have actually cut way back on my soda consumption. Some of that is strictly related to cost.

[randroid]

Gents,

Back in '73 when I first began studying economics the price of plywood doubled in one week (a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" Birch went from $8.00 to $16.00) and it was blamed on a shortage although the plywood mills were running three shifts 24/7 and a rail yard in KC was full of boxcars of plywood. One year later gas went from $.40/gallon to $1.55/gallon and it was blamed on a shortage. It was determined in my school that the plywood ruse was simply a test to see just how much we'd pay before lowering our consumption enough to cut into profits, and I still think the school was correct. The suppliers will get what they think we're willing to pay and has little to do with supply and demand but there's a bright side to this; evidently the suppliers figure our economy is getting stronger and we can afford it, and that's not a political statement so much as simple arithmetic.

-Randy

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have learned in the past few years that traveling with my food at ready is the best method. The wife and I usually end up feeding some 24 folks on the average when we arrive at our destination and upon arrival immediately start preparation of the evening meal (after driving 610 miles) we do this as my aunt is too old to be saddled with this and we want to ensure my dad and his family have a good visit with no problems. Last weekend we fed approx 50 folks at the last get together, most got 3 meals or better..we carried all food with us from Georgia..we fix our own meals along the way and carry our own drinks with us. It is not only cost advantage for us, it is usually a better meal..can be made and consumed while traveling..we have granola and nuts and such for snacks..food (meat products) at our destination was approimately 3 times higher than what I buy it for at my location..yes I know why its higher, we are paying for it through our taxes..most of the time it is my brother and sister sharing the cost of the food also...gas prices were just about 14 cents higher in the state than we were used to paying but food and such..outrageous..plus as Ed says..the price of a soda at a gas station is out of this world..yet most folks will never quibble a cold drink over fuel cost..Ihave seen folks drive way out of their way to save 2 cewnts on the gallon..at twenty gallons that is 40 cents..hardly worth the time and usually a loss considering the distance and fuel to drive there and retrace your steps..basic econmics are still economics even if the index is slightly higher somewhere else..

[Merle Coggins]

Ihave seen folks drive way out of their way to save 2 cewnts on the gallon..at twenty gallons that is 40 cents..hardly worth the time and usually a loss considering the distance and fuel to drive there and retrace your steps..basic econmics are still economics even if the index is slightly higher somewhere else..

Yea but... do that 10 times and you've saved $4.00, enough to put a down payment on a fresh pack of smokes.

Merle

[TodFitch]

Gents,

Back in '73 when I first began studying economics the price of plywood doubled in one week (a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" Birch went from $8.00 to $16.00) and it was blamed on a shortage although the plywood mills were running three shifts 24/7 and a rail yard in KC was full of boxcars of plywood.

If they were running a plant 3 shifts 24/7 then there probably was more demand than they could supply for. If I were running that business at that time I'd raise prices too.

One year later gas went from $.40/gallon to $1.55/gallon and it was blamed on a shortage. It was determined in my school that the plywood ruse was simply a test to see just how much we'd pay before lowering our consumption enough to cut into profits, and I still think the school was correct. The suppliers will get what they think we're willing to pay and has little to do with supply and demand but there's a bright side to this; evidently the suppliers figure our economy is getting stronger and we can afford it, and that's not a political statement so much as simple arithmetic.

-Randy

Agree that it is "simple arithmetic". Actually not quite that simple, maximizing profits based on a empirically determined and time changing supply and demand curve is not easy but that is what any business tries to do. Businesses are, after all, in the business of making money.

For something like gas the demand is short term inelastic (you have the car you have, you live where you live, you work where you work and in most of the US the only option is driving) so raising the price definitely brings in more money short term. Longer term people can move or buy more efficient cars, etc.

But amazingly few people think about future gas prices when looking at a car or house. Those can seem like "extra cost" considerations if they are considered at all. I've spent extra for a house that is within walking or bicycling distance of nearly any company I'm likely to work at. I spent a little extra for a car that averages 45 MPG for those times that I'm not walking or bicycling. The gas hog in the garage is the Plymouth which can be parked if I don't feel like paying for gas for it. Basically I changed my life style about 10 years ago in anticipation of the $5/gal gas I expected to occur by 2007 or 2008. I was wrong on my bet, but I'm still prepared for it when it happens. And along the way I ended up with a house that did not lose as much value as others when the real estate bubble popped (location, location, location) and a car that has cost less per mile on its "total cost of ownership" than average. Pay your money and make your choice....

[Young Ed]

outrageous..plus as Ed says..the price of a soda at a gas station is out of this world..

Heck I'd pay the price at the gas station any day compared to what most restaurants are charging you for a glass.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have not ordered a soda or a tea at any resturant for 4 years now..and only rarely a coffee at breakfast if I dine out....even if it is included in the meal, I drink water..

[Young Ed]

I have not ordered a soda or a tea at any resturant for 4 years now..and only rarely a coffee at breakfast if I dine out....even if it is included in the meal, I drink water..

Well at a lot of places its up to 3-4 bucks. Granted its free refills but so what I usually only drink 1-2 glasses.

[greg g]

Back when I was in the food business we always had the Coke guy coming around at the beginning of every school year apoligizing for the inevitable price raise for the soda syrup for the fountain drinks. And every year we would refuse to contemplate the price they wanted telling them to come and get their equipment and we would go with brand X.

Then the bottled water craze started and the Coke brand of bottlle water was merchandised on the grocery store shelves right ext to the soda. The price of the soda was always less than the water. Hmmm.

So that year the guy came around with his usual tale of woe about prices and I just looked at him and smiled at him like the Cheshire cat. After a ccouple minutes of silence he asked what I was grinning about. So I asked him if he had been to the grocery store lately. He said yes and I asked him if he paid any attention to his product prices in the store. He said yes and asked why.

I explained to him that I noticed that their brand of plain waster cost more than their water with the syrup added called Coke. He said OK but did that have to do with anything?

So I told him well you got water and you make coke by putting the syup into the water correct? He said yes, so then I said you charge more for purified water so the syrup you add to make the soda must have a negative effect on pricing as after it is added it lessens the value of the base product which is water. So how is it you can justify a price increase in a product which lowers the value of something when it added to it?

He looked at me for a couple of minutes, gathered up his merchandising stuff, his charts and tables, put them in his brief case and left my office.

Early the next morning his boss called and asked me what I had done to his best account rep that made him call in sick. I said all we did was talk about a basic math concept...