Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Myopia at it's best

As near as I can tell I am currently doing this blog "due to high gas prices." When I finish the post it will because because of "soaring gas prices." And the breakfast I am going to eat will happen "despite high gas prices."

Every news outlet looks for the "gas price" angle. Marketing companies have figured out that sheeple are willing to buy a $10,000 product if it gets them $100 in "free gas." And casual conversation around the water cooler seems to have drifted away from the weather and now obsesses over a $0.02 increase per gallon. (that's an extra $0.40 cents on a fill-up if you have a 20 gallon tank, woohoo)

The irony is that the people who seem to complain the most are the same people who:

1. know the least about basic economics
2. spent $1,000 on fireworks
3. are holding a 12 oz Starbucks that cost them $4.50

Please, make them stop.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's not just gas, it's everything is going up like food,which is very expensive.
High gas and cant afford food. that makes us like the third worlders.
Of course , many Americans have credit cards otherwise there would be riots in the streets.
but dont worry too much because everyone can still afford an illegal alien mexican gardener

Scottiebill said...

At the Chevron on 4th Plain and 122nd in Vancouver, the gas price went DOWN 8 cents over night from $4.36 to $4.28. I doubt that this will last, but one can always hope.

Anonymous said...

Gas and food prices are SLAMMING working class and middle class Americans; they are adjusting their lifestyles accordingly. Some are literally in survival mode. We are possibly witnessing the beginnings of a tectonic shift in the way Americans live and work.

Daniel Miglavs doesn't want to hear about this.

He wants to hear about "illegal aliens."

Anonymous said...

what ticks me off are the "high gas prices make my milk cost a buck more" people.

NO IT DOESN'T!

Think about this:

The goods you buy move around the country (and world) and that uses gas. That is true.

But all the products in the world aren't being ferried around in your gas guzzling 4x4. They are moving in giant double 18-wheelers, in aircraft, in cargo ships, in trains, etc.

Let's say you are a milk truck driver. Let's say it normally costs you $100 in fuel to deliver your load from the farm to the processing plant. Diesel prices double. Now it costs you $200. Yes, that extra $100 is a lot for you. But that added cost is a fraction of the $100,000 you paid for your truck. And it is spread out over the entire load of cargo you are hauling. If you are "moo"ving two tanks full of milk (drinkamugamilkameal!), you are moving, what 10,000 gallons per tank?

So... an added $100 is spread over 20,000 gallons of product. Do some math... that is a HALF PENNY PER GALLON.

The impact of fuel costs is largest on the smallest scale consumer (you) and smallest on the largest scale consumers (giant cargo ships and trains). The more "mass market" the goods and services are, for instance, staples sold at places like Wal-Mart, the less of a factor gas prices are.

So if you shop globally, gas prices have almost no effect on the cost of your shopping.

Now, if you are one of those idiots who only buys locally produced goods, produced and delivered in tiny batches, then sure, the costs are soaring. But no one is making you buy all your produce at the local hippie co-op. Go to Wal-Mart.

Anonymous said...

It is about 1400.00 US dollars to fill an 18 wheeler (once) that does add to the cost of all goods delivered via truck.

Frankly, I am glad I still live out here in rural America where I still have the ability to grow my own food.

It will be the idiots in the cities that start to starve to death because of the lack of any energy policy from the Pelosi/Reid regimes. Talk about the need for regime change. Those two communists are going to screw up this nation and how.

As a side note:

All members of congress receive a $1600.00 per month stipend for auto lease/purchase, and $600.00 stipend for gas. Perhaps as Americans we should demand this practice be stopped at once. After all, if the is no “pain” on their end, how will they understand the “pain” they are inflicting on every American, but themselves.

Anonymous said...

People drive way more than they need to, especially in cities. Actually, people spend way more than they need to, but now assume these possessions and lifestyle as a right. People now expect the government to make their vacations and their trips to the mall and soccer practice affordable. If you can't afford it, stop eating out every meal and buying new clothes every single year. Stop wasting your money people. It's your own fault you bought the house you couldn't afford.

Anonymous said...

If it wasn't for a mass flood of tens of millions of "cheap" (only to the crooked employer) Illegal aliens, YOUR WAGES would be going up to compensate you for the increased cost of living.

But NOOOOOOO, Your Boss knows about 6,000 illegals are sneaking in everyday and thrilled to get $8/hr. tax free and tax payer funded housing, medical, food, schooling etc.

Anonymous said...

VIVA ATZLAN!

Jim in KFalls said...

If there isn't a correlation between the increased cost of fuel and the price of everything else, then what is the cause? Are/Were all goods and services just underpriced?

You can't tell me (going back to the milk analogy) that the demand for milk has increased 25% in the last 18 months, yet the cost of a gallon of milk has increased well over $.85/ gallon.

By the way the milk analogy has way too many holes in it to hold water. Address these facts:
- The cost of Corn has increased dramatically due to the increased demand for bio-fuel. This has caused less supply for hay as farmers have started growing corn instead of other crops. Thus the price of hay and other feed has increased, along with the cost to produce the hay(energy) and ship it to the dairy(fuel).
- The cost to opperate the dairy has increased also due to increased energy costs and fuel.
- The cost to move the milk has gone up too based on the increased fuel price (as was addressed in the original milk analogy).
- The cost to produce the milk (at the bottling facility - it doesn't come out of cows as skim milk) has gone up due to higher energy prices.
- The cost for milk jugs has increased due to energy prices and the costs associated with creating plastic - which has a correlation to petroleum.
- The cost to ship the gallon of milk to the store has increased due to the cost of fuel.
- The cost of wages has gone up, albeit slightly at each layer (the farm, the dairy, the people who move the feed, the people who move the milk, the people who work at the bottling facility, the folks at the grocery store, etc).
- Demand has increased as the number of people drinking milk has likely increased.

There is a common element in several of these facts, and that is the cost of energy to produce or move something. If the cost of energy increases, you should expect an exponential growth on the retail cost of the end product in direct correlation to the number of steps where energy impacts the process.

Anonymous said...

Bottled water still costs more per gallon then gas.

Anonymous said...

My dictionary tells me that myopia (in the context above) refers to: "A lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking and planning."

So here we are: A global energy situation approaching crisis levels that promises to continue indefinitely, impacting the way everyone in the industrialized world lives and works ... for the rest of our lives.

Daniel is tired of hearing about this.

Instead, he wants to talk about the Oregon Department of Human Services Diversity Coordinator, whether Oregonians should have the right to play with "cool" fireworks, and Thomas Beatie's fallopian tubes.

Welcome to Myopia ... er, I mean, Miglavia.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes you are MORE of an ASSHOLE than others Daniel. You may think gas prices are no big deal and act like a flippant prick about it but sorry to break it to you Miglavs, you aren't going to find many who agree with you on this. It isn't JUST the gas, dumbass, it's what happens to EVERYTHING ELSE when gas is so expensive. Prices for everything are skyrocketing. And collectively, it is really having a huge impact on people.

Your flippant smart ass comments prove that on many levels, Miglavs, you just don't get it.

Anonymous said...

And anon 11:48, you rank right up there in stupidity with Miglavs.

If fuel prices aren't impacting milk prices as you say (ROTFLMAO) then perhaps you can explain to me why the dairy industry is going so far as to change the shape of their milk cartons to cut down on the space the milk takes up in transport?

You and Miglavs need to buy some "I'm With Stupid" tee shirts and go talk to some dairy farmers about how the price of fuel is impacting them.

I am astounded at the stupidity radiating from Miglavia.

Anonymous said...

HELLO MILK DRINKERS.

Remember back before Clinton & Co left office there was this huge movement to slaughter millions of dairy cows. This was lobbied for by the dairy industry because with the glut in cows producing milk the price remained too low.

Milk prices started to go up accordingly. Now fuel does play a price in all goods consumed. period. fact of life. If you want lower food prices, we need to lower other costs along with production.

Remember fuel is not just to haul, but is also used in all phases of production of what is to be shipped.

Anonymous said...

Hey, maybe gas and food prices aren't rising where Daniel lives. I mean, he's already indicated that global warming does not exist where he is. Maybe he lives in a parallel universe.

If so, Daniel, I suggest you start reading newspapers published where you live.

Anonymous said...

Jim,

The problem isn't the gas. The problem is the weak dollar. The dollar has lost about half its value relative to other currencies over the last few years, so a dollar today buys about half as much oil (or any other imported goods) as it used to.

Since over half the consumer goods we buy are imported, prices are skyrocketing.

Oh, and while it may cost over a thousand dollars to fill the fuel tanks on a big rig, no one is saying you burn a full tank of gas in one trip. In the milk example, the milk usually never travels more than a few hours from farms to processing plants to grocery stores. Cows are raised all over the nation because if people depended on dairy farms in California to provide milk in New York, the milk would be very expensive indeed!

Now, when you are talking about other items besides milk, which is bulky and dense, you can distribute far more. Think about, oh, just about any small plastic object. How many tens of thousands of, say, boxes of plastic knives and forks can you pack into a tractor trailer?

The single most important thing that can be done, and done quickly, to lower all our costs - including gas - is to strengthen the dollar. A balanced budget that cuts spending while keeping taxes low, that pays off debts without borrowing more, can almost instantly lower all our prices, because the dollar will almost instantly have more purchasing power here and abroad. And because a large part of monetary value is expected future value, simply announcing a new federal budget that meets these guidelines will see a sudden drop in long-term fears that have kept the dollar weak. The instant re-evaluation of future value could supercharge the economy even before the budget takes effect.

Anonymous said...

LOL! 4:26, that's the best (and funniest) response to Miglavian-style stupidity I've read in quite a while.

Jim in KFalls said...

Anon 1001 - I agree that solution: "Make the dollar stronger"