$4 gas, free market, tax burden question

[Dukehorn]

I’m a tech lawyer so my econ background is pretty mediocre.

President Bush today said he hadn’t heard about the predictions for $4 gas, but that the proposed 18 billion dollar tax increase on the oil industries from Congress was going to bump the price up.

From a free market perspective, does the tax increase really matter? The gas companies turned in another quarter of record profits so I’m trying to figure out the supply and demand question for something that literally everyone needs (due to the sad state of public transportation in this country).

Since this is a market area where the consumers have limited options and therefore will pay whatever price is being charge (to a certain extent), the only possibility is if one of the companies decides to undercut the others price-wise, but what’s the incentive to do so? This isn’t a luxury item so in essence the market is an oligopoly (isn’t it)?

De-regulation is great in industries where you have to compete for consumers but that really isn’t the oil industry.

[Nor-LA-SD-guy]

I believe we are very close to being done with Oil as far as transportation is concerned, The more they raise the price of Gas, the faster we will be free of the need for it.

There are several technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries.
nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

and sereral others

The Mid east will just be a other spot on the map in 10 years IMO,

Maybe a religious vacation spot who knows.

[Nor-LA-SD-guy]

I believe we are very close to being done with Oil as far as transportation is concerned, The more they raise the price of Gas, the faster we will be free of the need for it.

There are several technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries.
nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

and sereral others

The Mid east will just be a other spot on the map in 10 years IMO,

Maybe a religious vacation spot who knows.

[Nor-LA-SD-guy]

I believe we are very close to being done with Oil as far as transportation is concerned, The more they raise the price of Gas, the faster we will be free of the need for it.

There are several technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries.
nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

and sereral others

The Mid east will just be a other spot on the map in 10 years IMO,

Maybe a religious vacation spot who knows.

[Nor-LA-SD-guy]

I believe we are very close to being done with Oil as far as transportation is concerned, The more they raise the price of Gas, the faster we will be free of the need for it.

There are several technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries.
nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

and sereral others

The Mid east will just be a other spot on the map in 10 years IMO,

Maybe a religious vacation spot who knows.

[Nor-LA-SD-guy]

I believe we are very close to being done with Oil as far as transportation is concerned, The more they raise the price of Gas, the faster we will be free of the need for it.

There are several technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries.
nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

and sereral others

The Mid east will just be a other spot on the map in 10 years IMO,

Maybe a religious vacation spot who knows.

[bsrsharma]

technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries. nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

Sadly, as a technologist, I should disagree with the "very close" description. We still have to depend on public transport, rail and conservation for near future. Battery and Hydrogen are nowhere near maturity to replace oil. The capital costs to build & replace the batteries and charging systems are still not well understood. e.g. we all know about CO2 emission/green house effect/global warming etc, but can anyone tell the effect of scrapping, say, tens of millions of high capacity lithium batteries per year? What are its impacts on air & water pollution? health impacts (cancer/birth defects/mental retardation? – Lithium is used in psychiatric medicine) We may get stuck with problems like nuclear waste or asbestos.

[bsrsharma]

technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries. nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

Sadly, as a technologist, I should disagree with the "very close" description. We still have to depend on public transport, rail and conservation for near future. Battery and Hydrogen are nowhere near maturity to replace oil. The capital costs to build & replace the batteries and charging systems are still not well understood. e.g. we all know about CO2 emission/green house effect/global warming etc, but can anyone tell the effect of scrapping, say, tens of millions of high capacity lithium batteries per year? What are its impacts on air & water pollution? health impacts (cancer/birth defects/mental retardation? – Lithium is used in psychiatric medicine) We may get stuck with problems like nuclear waste or asbestos.

[bsrsharma]

technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries. nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

Sadly, as a technologist, I should disagree with the "very close" description. We still have to depend on public transport, rail and conservation for near future. Battery and Hydrogen are nowhere near maturity to replace oil. The capital costs to build & replace the batteries and charging systems are still not well understood. e.g. we all know about CO2 emission/green house effect/global warming etc, but can anyone tell the effect of scrapping, say, tens of millions of high capacity lithium batteries per year? What are its impacts on air & water pollution? health impacts (cancer/birth defects/mental retardation? – Lithium is used in psychiatric medicine) We may get stuck with problems like nuclear waste or asbestos.

[bsrsharma]

technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries. nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

Sadly, as a technologist, I should disagree with the "very close" description. We still have to depend on public transport, rail and conservation for near future. Battery and Hydrogen are nowhere near maturity to replace oil. The capital costs to build & replace the batteries and charging systems are still not well understood. e.g. we all know about CO2 emission/green house effect/global warming etc, but can anyone tell the effect of scrapping, say, tens of millions of high capacity lithium batteries per year? What are its impacts on air & water pollution? health impacts (cancer/birth defects/mental retardation? – Lithium is used in psychiatric medicine) We may get stuck with problems like nuclear waste or asbestos.

[bsrsharma]

technologies that are very close ie.. cheap lithium ion batteries. nanoparticles that could make hydrogen cheaper than gasoline..

Sadly, as a technologist, I should disagree with the "very close" description. We still have to depend on public transport, rail and conservation for near future. Battery and Hydrogen are nowhere near maturity to replace oil. The capital costs to build & replace the batteries and charging systems are still not well understood. e.g. we all know about CO2 emission/green house effect/global warming etc, but can anyone tell the effect of scrapping, say, tens of millions of high capacity lithium batteries per year? What are its impacts on air & water pollution? health impacts (cancer/birth defects/mental retardation? – Lithium is used in psychiatric medicine) We may get stuck with problems like nuclear waste or asbestos.

[kewp]

When I moved 3 years ago I picked a place that was within walking distance of free transportation to my place of business.

Expect this trend to increase with gas prices (and jingle mail).

There is also the chance of a ‘black swan’ type tech event that is game changing. Like a sub 10k biodiesel roadster that gets 100 mpg. Or hyper-efficient batteries, solar cells, teleporters, whatever.

The real problem, however, is its not just a transportation issue. Oil is used in shipping, industry, farming, manufacture, etc. So even jerks like me that don’t drive every day end up paying for it one way or another.

[kewp]

When I moved 3 years ago I picked a place that was within walking distance of free transportation to my place of business.

Expect this trend to increase with gas prices (and jingle mail).

There is also the chance of a ‘black swan’ type tech event that is game changing. Like a sub 10k biodiesel roadster that gets 100 mpg. Or hyper-efficient batteries, solar cells, teleporters, whatever.

The real problem, however, is its not just a transportation issue. Oil is used in shipping, industry, farming, manufacture, etc. So even jerks like me that don’t drive every day end up paying for it one way or another.

[kewp]

When I moved 3 years ago I picked a place that was within walking distance of free transportation to my place of business.

Expect this trend to increase with gas prices (and jingle mail).

There is also the chance of a ‘black swan’ type tech event that is game changing. Like a sub 10k biodiesel roadster that gets 100 mpg. Or hyper-efficient batteries, solar cells, teleporters, whatever.

The real problem, however, is its not just a transportation issue. Oil is used in shipping, industry, farming, manufacture, etc. So even jerks like me that don’t drive every day end up paying for it one way or another.

[kewp]

When I moved 3 years ago I picked a place that was within walking distance of free transportation to my place of business.

Expect this trend to increase with gas prices (and jingle mail).

There is also the chance of a ‘black swan’ type tech event that is game changing. Like a sub 10k biodiesel roadster that gets 100 mpg. Or hyper-efficient batteries, solar cells, teleporters, whatever.

The real problem, however, is its not just a transportation issue. Oil is used in shipping, industry, farming, manufacture, etc. So even jerks like me that don’t drive every day end up paying for it one way or another.

[Author]

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