$3.70 here in Atlanta, Georgia. We'll cross the four dollar mark in about a week.

And for the people who have a problem with the metric system...

You mean for regular or Premium?

Regular.

Just to update here in Atlanta, I went out for lunch and passed a gas station that was selling regular for $3.79.

Nine cents in less than a day. The escalation continues...

So what's the solution?

I guess you guys don't do a lot of grocery shopping. Forget the gas prices, I spend as much on food now with just my husband and I as I did when all three kids lived at home...

Yeah, it's $3.99 here for gas.

Either use less or produce more.

Farmers decided to grow corn (for ethanol) instead of "grass".

Hey,




But in related news, McCain and Clinton have made a proposal to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax. I think they figure it will knock about 20 cents off the price per gallon. My own speculation is that some other prices may temporarily come down because transportation of good will cost less. Anyway John McCain has a petition you can sign if you want to support it. It's not a real solution and it's short term but I think it will give Americans some relief and the economy a shot in the arm it could use.

But isn't that tax money used to help fund things like schools, hospitals, roads etc?

There are plenty of other taxes that cover that.  Income Tax, Sales Tax, tax on cigarettes and alcohol, toll roads.  All kinds of good stuff.  I could probably go on and on like Bubba in Forrest Gump, only with taxes instead of shrimp.

So you guys are running a budget with a surplus then?

But isn't that tax money used to help fund things like schools, hospitals, roads etc?

Hey,
Or if you insist on a tax why don't they target the more excessive well to do luxury purchases that are some how related like hummers, friaries, grills, 20'' rims... yachts perhaps.

Yes. I insist.

Better than the democrats  

We have that already.  It's called sales tax.

I also find it perplexing when average Joes think parties like the Republican Party represent their best interests. You gotta be kidding me.

The Great Depression Part 2

Hollywood loves a crisis. In particular, it loves an economic one. This isn't because sub-prime mortgage meltdowns make for good screenplays - they don't - but because cinema attendance booms typically during a recession.

The trend will be tested today with the opening of Iron Man , the latest Marvel Comics adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr in the superhero role of the title. Analysts say that the film could take as much as $80 million (£40 million) over the weekend as Americans mob the cinemas in search of a distraction from all the talk of $120-a-barrel oil, unstoppable inflation, and the falling property market.

Even if American audiences avoid Iron Man, the economic crisis means that Hollywood will almost certainly get its money back from international sales. Thanks to the weak dollar, an £11.50 film ticket sold in London is worth $22.68 to a film studio in Los Angeles, compared with $18.40 five years ago.

Iron Man is the first in a series of “event films” to be released between May and September, in an attempt by Hollywood to break last summer's season box-office record of $4.18 billion. Other big hits are expected to include the eagerly awaited Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and a dozen or so new franchises, including Hancock (starring Will Smith), the animated King Fu Panda, and the thriller Wanted.


“Consumers cut back on expensive purchases during recessions but also typically shift what discretionary spending money they have left to affordable activities, such as going to the movies.” This economic anomaly was first observed during the Great Depression, when even the Dust Bowl refugees used what little money they had to pay for admissions to monster movies and Marx Brothers comedies.

Now, with America supposedly on the brink of Great Depression II (like most sequels, its arrival has been hyped in advance), studio executives are closing their eyes and seeing dollar signs.

The data seems to support the optimism. During the last recession of 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone became a $1 billion smash, while box office revenues for the year rose 9 per cent to $8.4 billion. A decade earlier, in 1991, when the US economy was reeling from defence spending cuts caused by the end of the Cold War, Hollywood released Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which took more than half a billion dollars.

But not everyone is convinced that Hollywood is in for such a good ride. They point to film attendances down by about 6 per cent this year and that Americans now have many other ways to distract themselves.

Chris Ayres, Times Online.

Its crazy. I was stuck (well the bus I was on) in a traffic jam for over an hour yesterday due to Taxi drivers being on strike and protesting over the price of Gas / Petrol... in Scotland.  Which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact I live in England not Scotland.

This is what I don't understand; the oil companies are sticking it to us and we all get angry with everybody except the oil companies.

Corporate greed running amok...And the governments they own are not likely to do a thing about it...

I really don't want to be put into the position of defending the oil companies, I'm sure they are taking advantage of the situation they have, but still, I think it's lopsided to think it's all the fault of the "evil corporations", or if only the government  had enough balls to institute price caps or something. If they did that it would only create other, potentially worse, problems.

Such as?

These weird conversion things don't seem right.  I've seen a few posts where a 7 or 8 dollar a gallon US rate is high, but since you're money is worth essentially double ours, wouldn't it come out even?  What am I missing here?

And since, I guess, you believe we went to Iraq for oil, you can just imagine the wars that might start. We'll get that crazed look in our eyes and anythings game.

I'm sure there are many more things one could speculate but I'll let your imagination work on that. But to return to the main point of my previous point, the source of the problem is a lot of people wanting/needing a scarce resource. And like me said, the only two solution are use less/find more or pay more(if there are price caps you'll still pay more, perhaps just not in money).

It sounds like you believe that, too, although, I'm guessing, you've probably denied it on other forum debates.

Indeed. Use less. Go green. Because if we don't we'll pay more, perhaps just not in money.

Anticipating future objections: If you want to mass arguments/evidence to the contrary, to open my eyes, that's fine. I'll hear you out, but I'm not interested in/ have the energy for that right now. I probably won't respond, unless the charges are ludicrous. But anyway, I hope we can leave it at that for now.

But seriously, dude. That's fine. A few posts into it I was hoping it wasn't going to drag on forever.

I'm just glad our good friend Death Monkey didn't show up

Hey,
To clarify, that was about the preconditions for the war stuff. I'm willing to continue talking about oil, or if you want to respond to my crucifixion of the caribou.

Hey,



To clarify, that was about the preconditions for the war stuff. I'm willing to continue talking about oil, or if you want to respond to my crucifixion of the caribou.



Actually, I'd be curious to have his input on this. In fact, I think I'll begin the blood/virgin sacrifice ritual necessary to summon him. Or, maybe a big pile of bananas will do???

sheepwalker  

We'd just be going around in circles, Sheepwalker. I've made my position clear and from what I've already said, my position on the environment (caribou) is pretty clear too. Something like 2% of the world's population have 85% of the wealth, while the other 98% of us squabble over the remaining 15%. If it's going to cost the 2% too much money to convert to a green world economy, too f*****g bad. They can afford it. All this BS over oil is unnecessary. We have the technology to convert to alternative fuel sources.  

Actually, let me rephrase that. F*** the 2%! I want my f*****g green economy!!!!L!111!one11!!JUAN!!!!111

caribou tastes like chicken...YUM

My ears are burning...

However I currently have no opinion on this matter. Ask again later.

Man, this "Magic Eightball"-attitude to politics is awesome!

My ears are burning...

However I currently have no opinion on this matter. Ask again later.

Man, this "Magic Eightball"-attitude to politics is awesome!

Oh, that's funny, you're here already. I thought it took three pairs of ovaries, not two...  


sheepwalker



  

It's actually kinda scary, because I haven't really been around these boards for a few months and I have no interest in rising gas prices since I bike, but somehow I was drawn to this thread anyway...

I hope the virgin you sacrificed to get me here deserved it.

My wife and I are visiting Scotland and England in a few weeks and will be renting a car for a few days.  Gas prices worry us.

Wednesday, I paid Wednesday, I paid $4.11 a gallon in Connecticut.