Oil prices are also a function of the weak dollar, because we have a government that has mentally disconnected itself from the consequences of deficit spending.

The dollar is no longer king, and foreign countries are moving to the Euro as the basis of their international commerce. If you factor in the Dollar to Euro exhange rate, you will see most of the price increase is due to our spending what we don't have.

A child is born in this country $35,000 in debt before their first breath. No nation in history has managed to survive that kind of per capita debt burden without economic disaster.

I don't blame oil speculators. I could get 5.12 % on my retirement money one year ago, now I can't get 3 % unless I commit to many years on a CD. The govt did this to help the mortgage fiasco. My house is paid for, I built it myself, but I am now forced to subsidize the housing speculators who tried to make a quick buck and got their butts handed to them on a platter, while the govt makes my retirement savings worthless by devaluing the dollar with deficit spending.

fumesucker:

my design was concieved with two very basic parameters.

The least expensive car you can buy today would cost more to produce, because my design eliminates 25% of the manufactured components per vehicle. My next door neighbor is spending more on fuel in 6 months than the car would cost new. Simpler than the original VW of the sixties without compromising safety.

The design also places the hypermiling function in the vehicle. When you step on the gas in my design you are changing the "gear" ratios in the powertrain with an infinite choice of gear ratios, and close to 90% regeneration capability, the difference in mileage would be close to 100% in any vehicle you drive.

In 200,000 miles of driving that could easily pay for several of my vehicles due only to the two basic design principles.

The belief that you need to spend a fortune to save some money on fuel is part of the propaganda of the oil companies and auto manufacturers, and its a criminal act from my perspective.

regards
gary

My problem with it is that it is a tax on the poor. I'm a conservative/libertarian but even I can identify this for what it is. Those making less than $40K (or whatever the cutoff is) are already paying next to nothing in taxes as it is. NOW you want them to spend extra money to get to work?

Then look at someone making over 100K a year. Another $2 at the pump? They'll just grin and bear it.

I understand the points the author is trying to make about forcing a decrease in demand, I understand the principles (however apposing to the ideals this country was founded on they are) but I can tell you that no politician will vote for this because any increase in gas prices is UNPOPULAR, despite the fact that it may or may not be the right thing to do.

Sure.

Furthermore, we already have gas taxes that are supposed to be spent on road infrastructure.

Have you seen the state of the infrastructure? It sucks. Bridges are rusting away, highways are disintegrating, etc etc etc. So what do you think is going to happen if the Government increases this tax by 2 orders of magnitude? I can tell you...one word...wait for it.... ... ... pork. Pork. Pork.

falling dollar
 

Guess what folks. It's only going to get worse. It is the result of the Federal reserve printing worthless dollars so the economy doesn't collaspe. So they prolong the slow death. Bear Stearns...good example. This company should have died. They gave them money to keep them alive...who pays...we do! They print money out of thin air. We pay with inflation. Get mad!!!!! Voting may not be the answer anymore!

It's not about the saudis, the oil companies, the war....

The real estate market hasn't even come close to the bottom yet. Prices of everything will continue to rise because of the idiots at the Fed reserve. We need to look at our politicians democrate and republican as tyrants!!! The world doesn't want to invest in dollars anymore.

Vote anything but the two parties. They are both in bed with the jerks. Now they don't know what to do...they dug the hole so deep they don't have a clue how to get out.....so they cover it with crap.... Did you know the federal reserve is run by private banks? Do you know that a bank only needs 10% of your loan to give you 100%. They get the other 90% from the Fed!!! The Fed reserve prints it out of thin air. Do you know that when you go into forclosure and the bank takes your house, they make tons of money!!! They can sell it for next to nothing and they still make money!!! Remember it only cost them 10% of what you borrowed. It's called fractional reserve banking. Our system is based on it. It's win /win situation for the bankers. Guess what....the private banks that run the fed always win!!! War...they win. Depression...they win. Collaspe...they win!!! Boom economy...they win!!!

Oil is a result of our dollar's value. Guess what! The dollar is worthless. Oil, Silver, gold, wheat, rice...actual things are the only thing worth anything! I'm sure not in the stock market!! Buy things you can put in your house and hand. The trillion dollar debt is something this country has never had to deal with. It's like a shark with a wounded man.

The world has probably hit peak oil and prices should go up, speculation and the weak dollar have probably made the price of oil higher than otherwise, but IMO making oil prices higher right now is doing the world a HUGE favor in the long run. I'm very skeptical of plant-based biofuels as they take land that could be used to food for producing fuel in turn raising food prices (VERY BAD). Algae-based fuels are much better as they can be located in unfarmable land and suck CO2 directly from power plants. Genetically engineered bacteria able of producing oil is another possibility, but neither option is going to replace current supply of fuel. More likely that cultures will have to adapt to low energy lifestyles.