How high will it go? (page 3)

EvilForce

Thank you for your in depth article.

I hope others can see first hand how hot Europeans in particular are at America for the cowardly walk out of Kyoto. However, this blame must be laid at the feet of the Bush administration. While 52,000,000 voted for the idiot, the other 250,000,000 of us now have to be governed by him.

My point about GDP was that as a percentage of "economic goods produced" America is actually using slightly less than what would be expected given the output.

I'm not trying to justify that output, nor any other behavior, just pointing out name calling and attacks won't really get us anywhere.

The Kyoto Protocol is fundamentally flawed as it will not address China and the developing world's output. As it sits now China will overtake the US in pollution within the next 25 years. While MY PERSONAL choice would have been to sign the protocol and work from inside the organization to address these issues, the Bush Administration dismissed it out of hand.

European can thank the Green Party for their "more enlightened" approach to the enviroment, but many American's feel that instead of rules, a free market will do better.

That's my 2 cents...

Doubtfully Yours

Scary. My next car will certainly be smaller.

DY

jt stumbler

"So I digress.... I'm sure you bought a house in the sticks for a good reason JT... but the fact of the matter is energy is a precious commodity. The Chinese are also part of the reason energy is high. They will be competing for our petro-dollar. So my advice is to sell you gas guzzler or at least have one car in your family that get's 38 mpg on the road so you aren't too hard pinched by this issue. High energy prices are here to last for a few years. " Evil, I live in a city who's city council blew a chance to bring in a Wal-Mart distribution center because they didnt want to give big business a tax break hence they built somewhere else and we lost a chance of 700 jobs. Therefore I have to commute to a larger city to the North for decent job to raise my family. I also drive a car that get around 30 mpg. Its just frustrating that they could raise the price of gas as much as they want and I have to pay.

EvilForce

JT, I agree with you and understand your frustrations. I reread my post and realized I may have sounded a bit critical of you and for that I apologize. It was not my intent, since most of us poor slobs are just trying to get by, raise a family, and have a safe, quiet place to call home. But what I posted is correct. Given the history of this administration, look for no relief there. GW's old oil buddies and OPEC buddies are all happy and laughing their way to the bank. So settle in for the long haul for high energy prices.

Simon

From: http://news.com.com/2061-10786-5663927.html?tag=xtra.ml April 11, 2005, 8:51 PM PDT

Inflation: Why you're not getting a raise this year

If you're like most Americans, don't count on a raise this year. The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday: "For the first time in 14 years, the American workforce has in effect gotten an across-the-board pay cut."

In other words, inflation is back. The cost of living, measured by the federal government's consumer price index, rose 2.7 percent in 2004 and the first two months of this year. Wages rose an average of only 2.5 percent, according to the Los Angeles Times. A Wall Street Journal article, also on Monday, gave a slightly better figure: white collar workers received a 3.4 percent raise.

The consumer price index is, however, a heavily-manipulated statistic that has been carefully crafted by the federal government to understate inflation.

That means the once-mighty U.S. dollar is being devalued -- that is, losing its purchasing power -- much faster than 2.7 percent a year. This should be no surprise to anyone who's filled up a gas tank recently. Richard Benson has taken the time to dig beneath the surface and report these raw numbers compiled by various federal agencies:

Gasoline: 47.5 percent increase from Nov. 2003 to Nov. 2004
Crude Materials: 25.9 percent increase
Groceries at supermarket: 6.1 percent increase
Housing costs: 13 percent increase from 3Q 2003 to 4Q 2004

Bill Gross, who manages the world's largest bond fund at PIMCO and knows something about this topic, calls the federal consumer price index a "con job." He estimates that the CPI is understated by at least one percentage point. Other estimates are far higher (again, look at prices for houses, gasoline, and college tuition).

The implications of this are deeply disturbing. For one thing, if we accept that "real" inflation is perhaps 4 to 5 percent, a savings account with a 2.5 percent return before taxes is actually losing value every year. It's even worse when you take taxes into account. And if you own stocks that have gone sideways or down in the last year (PHLX Semiconductor down 19 percent, NASDAQ down 3 percent), inflation makes the bite exceptionally painful.

Inflation doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's a consequence of the Federal Reserve "printing" scads of money through tactics like keeping short-term interest rates artificially low. In the beginning, this creates some welcome effects, such as "rising" home values. But then the inflation beast really starts to roar. As economist Ludvig von Mises said: "This ignorance of the public is the indispensable basis of the inflationary policy."

At least this time, when your 2005 raise doesn't cover your higher 2005 expenses, you'll know who to blame.

Posted by Declan McCullagh

Bas

It'll get alot worse in the coming years. I expect exploding oilprices, high inflation, shrinking real income and unemployment at rates not seen since the Great Depression. I know nobody wants to hear it but this all will soon be reality and we will all be hit by it, JW and non-JW alike.

http://www.energybulletin.net/5292.html

Bas

upside/down

The actual cost of oil and the cost of producing gasoline from it is relatively the same everywhere.

The difference in pricing between the US and Europe and other places is TAXATION of that commodity. There are several reasons the US pays what appears to be less. We have to pay for everything else... our government doesn't give us dick if we're a working productive citizen.They only take. They expect us to carry our own weight.

The fact that comparisons are made to socialistic societies is abhorrent and misleading (apples to oranges) as some would have us believe that we have so good compared to those paying $6.00 per gallon for years. But what do they get for that $6.00... usually some form of social benefits.

The US has become a mixture of rugged individualism (not always practical in a modern global economy) and socialism. It's water and oil and that's why the pro's and cons of each will forever be debated as both have merit, but are not applicable or best in all situations. It's a very complex problem.

Bloom where you're planted... I say!

u/d (of the wants a horse class)

Gollum

Speaking of depressing scenarios, I suggest this blog. Regretablly, I tend to agree with his assesement of the future, which the blog name sums up nicely.

http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/

I'm guessing that this isn't showing up as a clickable URL because I'm using firefox, right? I also have the devils own time getting the formating to turn out in a legible manner.

How high will it go?

Inflation: Why you're not getting a raise this year

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