$2 @ The Pump
Since one of the few unifying points we can all agree on is Michelle Bachmann's nuttier than a Christmas fruitcake status, let us take a look at a comment she made recently that (if true) could throw not just The Street but the world at large into a state of flux. Obviously politicians can and will say anything while campaigning but when I read the following statement by Bachmann about Bachmann I not only got a good laugh but considered the possible ramifications.
Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again. That will happen.
Awesome. Under poster Midas you will see posts posted. Post that on your poster boards.
Easy pickings as she is, Bachmann stumbles onto something very interesting here. So let me ask you guys would $ 2 gasoline be a good thing or not? Bare with me as I explain my rationale. Obviously, it would be cool as shit to see late 1990's prices at the pump and many of our compatriots would scurry off to buy the next Hummer limo. No major issues there.
The problem comes into play with the turmoil we have seen in MENA lately. Lower gas prices would presumably create a lot more tension via lowered earnings/living standards for an already volatile populace. Though we always say we love regime change in autocratic nations, can America really afford the type of interventionist actions which would surely be needed if a few more despots were to have their black gold spigots tightened?
The other issue I see is consumer spending. We want it to go up, but on what? Is another round of inevitable gas guzzler purchasing and contrived oil contract shorting really the way out of the mud? Or is it really just another reflationary bubble dance which we have all promised never to repeat?
Regardless of my musings, do any of you actually believe the notion of $2 gas, ever again? I am not saying it is impossible, I just always wonder how the people that promise these sorts of beneficial price changes arrive at their conclusions? Other than by wishing upon a star of course...
Any takers on $ 2 gas? I'll ask for some why's, because there are certainly a million and one clear cut why nots.
Wait, since when does Bachmann care about the plight of brown people in faraway countries? Middle east turmoil is probably a positive in her book.
The only thing that can come from that is making a few energy speculators very, very rich. There's nothing like an untenable government backstop.
Incidentally, I thought this was going to be about $2 beers at a bar called The Pump, aimed at the gay/meathead/auto mechanic crowd.
I'm going to take the Hippie approach and say that although having $2/gal gas would be amazing, I think we as a nation would be taking a step forward by letting the gas prices stay where they're at. People have been on the "less dependancy on foreign oil" bandwagon only because it's affected them in a big way. I say, let the gas stay up so we're able to move forward in not letting other countries take us by the balls when it comes to oil. There will be less leverage given to foreign (middle eastern) countries when it comes to diplomatic talks, and maybe we can spur more growth in our domestic energy sector.
^ As far as getting the most out of resources and not being wasteful, I don't know why that HAS to be a hippie thing. Whatever happened to just getting the most out of resources and not being wasteful??? It seems the oil companies have done a good job of selling everyone on the idea that if they're NOT guzzling shitloads of oil then they're a liberal asshole.....what if I just want to save a buck?
As for Bachmann: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pr2cZhuwlq0/TO9WRnmUk3I/AAAAAAAAAEU/v8OGwVevn…
I'm not opposed to $2 gas at all, as long as it comes from a free-market process (and, when economic stability comes to MENA, it's likely more oil will be produced as new sources come online). People forget that one of the reasons gas is so expensive is that there's a cartel in charge of it and there are so many restrictions on exploration and exploitation. Even if it just takes less of a bite out of everybody's wallet, that's a good thing.
Also, it would encourage nations that are dependent upon oil exports to diversify their economies and make them less vulnerable to price swings. Nothing wrong with that, either.
I could honestly care less about people in foreign markets if we aren't stealing from them. Hell, we can even do that. But if its done through price fixing, I cant support that. Remember the 70's? If the government removed all tax from gasoline, it may fall that low (oil import tariffs, refining taxes, removing refinery restrictions, direct gas tax, etc.). But they will never do it.
I mostly agree with MMB. I want $2 gas for me, forget about everyone else. I say that partially in jest, but as someone who drives over 100 miles a day $2 gas would be amazing for me (especially since the Illinois Tollway just decided that it would be cool to double all of our tolls).
While I am not looking to save $50/month if that leads to a crumbling MENA, I don't agree with your entire premise MMM. I think the average American having more money in their wallet is a HUGE plus. Lets say on average each American has $100 per month thanks to lower gas prices, I really don't think everyone instantaneously runs out and buys a hummer. That extra money can either put the average American in better financial shape or (more likely) at least increase consumer spending, both of which are pluses in my book.
All that said, I'm trying to make an effort to avoid political crap this early in the game, but Bachmann does seem like a whack job.
With all this talk of Arab dictators and third world strongmen feeding America's hunger for energy and shady international oil cartels, lett's not forget that the majority of America's oil is imported from the not-so-politically unstable, not-so Islamic rebublic of.....Canada!!.
Just for laughs:
[quote=noname1001]With all this talk of Arab dictators and third world strongmen feeding America's hunger for energy and shady international oil cartels, lett's not forget that the majority of America's oil is imported from the not-so-politically unstable, not-so Islamic rebublic of.....Canada!!.
Just for laughs:
] I dunno, I think I want to see his birth certificate first....
Do you guys think she even knows where or what the middle east is?
Don't you guys in the US have mental asylums for people like bachmann?
She is from the Mid West, so i would assume she knows that the Mid East is just a few states over.
Haha, she really is pretty nutty.
"Bachmann creates firestorm for joking hurricane is God’s message"
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/bachmann-claims-hurricane-earthquake…
eliminate gasoline taxes, invest heavily in Oil Sands in Canada and in-situ operations in the states and diversify energy needs through natural gas and nuclear power. Add in a dash of global economic stability and you could very well have prices hovering near $2/barrel.
The big discoveries in ME are done, Majnoon was the last one and frankly the dictators or interim prime ministers know that they need to produce the oil or risk civil war. the communities over there can continue to pretend that its about democracy but as a student of Gulf/Levant history the concept of a benevolent dictator is so ingrained in their psyche that any unrest will be the result of economic conditions more than anything. the oil weapon phenomenon is so 1970's, if Saudi Arabia blocks the flow of oil to the market for greater than a month, we will all have to purchase new Atlas's to learn the names of the country (ies) replacing that kingdom.
You first 3 words indicate that you are living in a fantasy land.
Lol no way we see $2/gal gas ever again. Maybe if we had a deflationary apocalypse in the economy, but under no circumstances would we get back to $2 gas in a healthy way. Those days are gone, buy a Prius.
Top 5 Oil Exporters to U.S.
Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria
The Middle East has very little to do with it. This is something Europe should consider.
Oil is a fungible commodity. It doesn't matter very much who exports to who (at least at this stage in the geopolitical drama that is Earth).
It's not that I don't care about Europe, it's just that, well, I don't care, and our country is getting shit on for trying to do the right thing.
At the end of the day, we will be paid off for securing Europe and even Saudi Arabia. A dichotomy is emerging worldwide between US/China in a scramble for resources. Both nations use resources inefficiently; the Chinese do so with price controls and currency controls. The Chinese economy uses just as much energy as the US, but has 1/3 the total output. The Chinese have accumulated massive foreign reserves by basically robbing the rest of the world of output, then investing those reserves into treasuries, or into oil.
Of course, the Chinese could offer the Saudi's a boatload of money for oil, but if you are a Saudi prince, and you've got an American aircraft carrier on your shores, and 60 billion in American made fighters in your hangars, who do you think you are going to sell to, at the end of the day. The American's use protection of the Saudi crown and of all of Europe as a means to do whatever they want. If the Chinese stopped buying our treasuries, we would basically turn to Europe and say "buy it or we leave". What do you think they are going to do? France and England SHARE one aircraft carrier. We have 11.
That's true, but doesn't necessarily mean much. Oil is a global market, so you need to think of it more like total output, not just output to US.
If county X which supplies no oil to the US, but half of Europe's oil, goes into civil war and ceases production, what happens? Europe starts buying from Canada, Mex, SA, etc... and drives up the US price.
Additionally, it's a very tight supply/demand curve. That is why relatively small changes in supply can impact the entire world's oil price.
First of all, oil is not a global market. It trades at different price points in different countries, based on the supply/demand characteristics of that particular market. Differences in gravity, sulfur content, and transportation make each individual market trade differently.
Aside from the above, my point is that US politicians like to blame Middle Eastern countries for high oil prices, when in reality it has nothing to do with them. The demand side is just as much to blame as the supply side.
http://earlywarn.blogspot.com/2010/06/comparing-us-and-european-fossil-…
Take a look at these statistics. US is consuming twice as much in fossil fuels as Euro Union per day, but our output (GDP) vs the Eurozone is basically the same. In other words, using each unit of energy more efficiently to produce more GDP would either significantly reduce demand for oil (and other fossil fuels) or increase GDP by enough to make energy seem less expensive relative to our higher incomes.
These politicians are pretty smart, blaming increasing energy prices on an easy to target group (Middle Easterners, the same people that support terrorists!), but the truth is we don't get any majority of our oil from them nor do we do anything on our end to use oil more efficiently.
Bachmann also pledged to ban porn. . . .
^^^auto no vote for any real man.
we should just invade canada and take there oil who is going to stop usa ? we can control that country in 45 minutes if we wanted to
We could also take their cheaper prescription drugs while we are the occupying force.
well gas should be lower. Oil is only $87 a barrel, and was dropping/ staying relatively flat last week, whereas gas here jumped up 15 cents..
$2 a gallon and we all get fucked in the ass to pay for the subsidies to keep prices that low.
she is nothing more than a ploy to divert votes away from ron paul......if you cant see this, you are very very naive
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