Whats happening to prices in the USA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (page 2)

AuldSoul

Gill,

Our homeless shanty-towns don't make for very good ratings when we are spending so much money to build other countries right now.

Ain't it disgusting?

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

CoonDawg

It's a combination of lots of things and it is global, not just here in the US. We just don't see much of what happens everywhere else because our news media doesn't show it.

I truly believe that the corn to ethanol has less to do with soaring prices than the value of the dollar, inflation, and fuel prices do. It's simple math. Everything we buy is transported, usually at least 3 times. From the manufacturer to a distributor to the retailer. Each move requires fuel, then if it's an import you have to add in shipping from their port to ours, plus all the other transportation. All of this takes fossil fuels to do it. That cost is passed on in the form of fuel surcharges and eventually the retailer builds it in to their final price. You figure one hell of a lot of freight gets moved for say, $.85 / mile. Fuel eats most of that up for a trucking company. Then you have the salary to the driver, usually anywhere from $.28 to $.42 cpm. With diesel now over $4.00 / gallon these companies are forced to try and raise their rates - something not substantually done since de-regulation in the 1970's. As they say - shit rolls down hill, so we - the consumers - end up being hit with the increases. It's nasty and painful, but I guess we'll live with it - we always have.

BurnTheShips

It's called inflation.
That's what you get when the Federal Reserve prints more and more money.

Bingo.

They are inflating away bad debts and increasing the money supply to deal with the credit crisis.

Inflation of basic goods is the unavoidable consequence.

Also the diverting of our grain harvests for fuel production as a result of the econazis is driving grain prices sky high.

When a poor Mexican can't afford his daily tortilla and his children go hungry, you can blame our idiotic energy policy which is being strangled by greens.

Also, has anyone noticed a reduction of fuel economy over the last several years? The ethanol cut in gasoline at the pump has lowered the energy/volume of gasoline. Ethanol is less energetic than straight gas.

We are getting screwed.

BTS

BurnTheShips

People look at countrys like Zimbabwe and wonder how a despot can treat people so badly and get away with it.

Starving people are more obedient. Look at N Korea.

joebin

We are getting screwed

At this point it's more like we're screwed...it's a global problem, not just the US.

PrimateDave

I just want to add to Burn's post. Ethanol isn't even "green". It is just another form of corporate welfare/subsidy. Every stage of ethanol production, from sowing seed to irrigation to harvesting corn and finally to distilling and distributing ethanol, uses energy, much of it diesel fuel. As the cost of diesel rises, so will the price of ethanol. On top of all that, industrial agriculture with its huge energy and pesticide inputs was never an environmentally friendly way to feed the United States, much less fuel the world's largest car culture. As said in previous posts, the situation is complex and we would be naive in looking for a single, all encompassing solution.

Dave

wha happened?

did someone call me? oh nevermind

5go

Inflation soon to be hyperinflation if the fed chairman keeps kissing the mega bank's, and mega corporation's collective ass and do his job. Which he won't he is bought and paid for by the upper class in the US who are making money off this.

Confucious

Here's the reality...

In the end, it's still supply and demand.

There's no two ways around it. There's no conspiracy. Bush isn't an idiot. There are tons of reasons. But it all boils down to supply and demand.

Supply and Demand:

The cost of Barrels of Oil is public knowledge. You can trace it every day in the stock market.

Last time I checked, I think it was about $110 a barrel.

It's not one company.

It's a lot of companies.

It can be YOU if you could pull that $hit out of the ground and go there and say I have 10 million barrels at $90 a barrel.

All these companies work their ass off to "out do" each other. It's not just one person or one company or one country.

Or... you want to be a hotshot? Take your 10 million barrels of oil and sell them for $200 a barrel.

No one is going to buy it... because everyone wants the oil and right now it's $110 a barrel.

It's that high, because the $hit is good and it's the only thing we have to make our cars run.

And right now people want more of it because China is getting industrialized and they need it to run their cars.

And India needs it too.

And so we can't buy it for $50 a barrel anymore, because India says, "We'll pay $60 for it."

And then we say, "F^ck you.. we'll pay $70 for it."

And then the Oil companies say to the Indians... "Hell... we're not selling it to you for $60 a barrel... the this MF wants to buy it for $70."

In short... it's supply and demand.

If the USA wants to help themselves. They (me) need to do one of two things...

1) Say F-U to the environmental wackos and drill for oil in Anwar. Pull that oil out of ground like it's going out of style.

Then see how fast gas goes down when supply goes up.

2) Say F-U to the environmental wackos and lets us (USA) build nuclear facilities.

In short... I'm not worried about it.

Because the U.S. has the raw materials to get through this.

There's an amazing amount of oil in Anwar. But the U.S. law doesn't allow us to drill for it.

But you watch. As soon as we have to eat rats for dinner? Even the enviromental wacko's will suddenly think it's a good idea to drill.

Confucious

BurnTheShips

Here's the reality...
In the end, it's still supply and demand.

I think so too. As a peak oiler, I think that is a big part of it. I agree with you.

But I think there is more. A lot more.

It isn't just supply and demand anymore, maybe it was at $60/bbl, but not anymore.

It's about a safe haven for wealth. The devaluation of the dollar has made oil not just a commodity but a store of wealth also. It is a currency now.

Monetary policy in the US gave us the tech bubble of the 90's. When it popped the money chased Real Estate. That bubble is popping as we speak. The new bubble is commodities. Oil stands out here. We have created new investment vehicles in this decade that allow more people to participate in the petroleum markets than ever before. ETF's for example. This has helped the bubble.

The tech bubble was relatively harmless. The RE bubble priced many out of homes. The commodities bubble is starving the poor.

Before you blame just the US, check the monetary policy in Europe and Asia.

It's a global economy, baby.

BTS

Whats happening to prices in the USA?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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