According to the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Americans will spend an average $400 per household more on fuel this year than in 2016. By contrast, middle-income US households will on average gain $930 from the tax cut bill....Zero Hedge
Gas Price Tops $4 In California For First Time Since July 2014
Tyler Durden
7 comments:
“July 7, 2008—Crude oil prices settled-in at a new record of $147 per barrel. The U.S. average price for regular gasoline climbs to an all-time high of $4.11 per gallon. Road trip style vacations are put on hold for many summer travelers“
https://www.treehugger.com/cars/2008-us-gas-price-year-in-review.html
Must be 21 year old journalists working at zero hedge....
Retail gasoline prices have topped $4 per gallon in CA. Since this is not the first time that gas has sold for $4 per gallon in CA, a commentator above thinks you are a “moron” if you worry about high gasoline prices.
Being a moron myself, I submit three quick observations…
[1] In July 2014 when CA fuel prices exceeded $4 per gallon, crude oil was selling for $110.00 per barrel. Today, fuel prices have topped $4 per gallon, while crude is at only $77.00 per barrel. If the price of crude continues to rise, and exceeds $110.00 per barrel like in 2014, then we can expect retail gasoline to soon sell for $6 per gallon in California, and $5.00 elsewhere.
High fuel prices are a legitimate worry, since fuel prices affect the prices of almost everything else in society.
[2] California has the second highest retail gasoline prices in the USA (after Hawaii). Part of this is a result of very high CA state taxes on gasoline (only Pennsylvania imposes higher taxes on fuel) and part of it is a result of mysterious “surcharges” that oil companies add to gasoline in California. Simply put, Californians depend on their cars more than do any other Americans. Therefore the CA state government and the oil companies gouge them, since Californians are a captive market.
Therefore, again, high fuel prices are a legitimate worry, especially in California, where two-hour commutes to work are routine. (Two hours each way.)
[3] In California the gap between the rich and the rest is widening as fast or faster than anywhere else in the USA. Los Angeles has more homeless people by far than does any other U.S. city, since more and more people cannot afford to pay the high rents. ($4,000 per month for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.) (Some people claim that New York City has more homeless, but I deny this. I have lived in both L.A. and NYC. Los Angeles has an endless sea of people living in tents. New York has nothing like L.A.) High fuel prices cause high food prices. This increases the hardships on the homeless.
The point, again, is that high fuel prices are a legitimate worry for everyone in the middle and lower classes, which are downwardly mobile throughout the USA.
Franko: "more #winning"
The cost of gasoline for driving has less practical effect than the cost of home heating oil, transportation surcharges applied to everything from UPS to groceries, etc. It's just the most visible.
@Noah Way: I say that transportation fuel prices have the greatest effect. Home heating oil is a factor in winter, but high fuel prices affect transportation year-round.
Cars, trucks, buses, planes, trains, ships, and so on. They all become more expensive to operate when fuel prices rise.
Fuel prices affect construction equipment too. Plus propane stoves, butane torches, etc.
When fuel prices go up (especially diesel and gasoline) the prices of almost everything else goes up.
Incidentally I live in southwestern USA. No one in the southwestern states uses heating oil in winter. Instead, we use natural gas in the urban areas, and propane in rural areas.
(Some people in rural areas use wood-burning heaters which, in their modern form, are remarkably efficient.)
Sorry Konrad, I was distracted by normal idiocy and glazed over your lengthy but accurate post.
We're on natural gas and wood in the NE but oil too if you count the vehicles. Not sure where the juice comes from.
“The cost of gasoline for driving has less practical effect than the cost of home heating oil, transportation surcharges applied to everything from UPS to groceries, etc. It's just the most visible.”
No shit Sherlock ... delivery vendors already added fuel surcharges like 10 years ago...
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