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Gas Prices
By Daphne | October 16, 2007
Gas prices getting you down? Join the club.
Oil prices do not just affect gasoline prices. The more a barrel of oil costs the more we pay for petroleum derived products namely plastics. Plastic isn’t bad but the amount of oil that we use for fuel and the amount of oil that goes toward production of petroleum derived products also makes the demand grow.
What does that mean for us? Using fuel efficient automobiles is one way of conserving petroleum.
Using less plastic is also a better way of conserving petroleum.
With the cost of gas creeping higher and higher and definitely taking a toll on our spending. Going to work by car will be a greater drain on your personal spending plan. Plus, services such as package delivery, food delivery and even public transportation will cost more because of higher oil prices.
According to CNN Money…
At the pump, the average national price of a gallon of gas rose 0.2 cent overnight to $2.759 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail prices have not jumped, as many analysts had expected, in response to oil’s rally from $69 a barrel in late August to $83 a barrel in late September. That could change, however, now that oil is again on the rise.
Politics has a lot to do with oil prices, as well as the weakening dollar. The housing market has a lot to do with the great American dream of home ownership. Owning a home is great, it provides security and should provide stability. But what really happens is that the dream should have been deferred or postponed in some cases.
The economy is slowing and lowered interest rates at this stage would serve as a bandage on the gaping wound.
Lower interest rates, used to jump-start the economy, can weaken a currency as investors transfer funds to countries where their deposits and fixed-income investments bring higher returns.
Inflation is not just happening in the United States, it is happening all over… this is definitely the time to be more fiscally responsible where we can be.
Oil prices are tied to currency prices and the world’s oil is computed in US dollars. As much as we would like our economy to grow, we need to look at ways of reviving the economy in ways other than just reducing the interest rates. Unfortunately, the higher our interest rates the better, and stronger the dollar will be. Conversely, that may mean that more people will rely on the plastic (credit cards) that they already have to help them get by.
Topics: October 2007 |