MayoSlather: eddyatwork: Of course it's all the fault of OPEC because there's no way anyone would do price fixing after the production point.

*cough* GOLDMAN SACHS *cough* (new window)

"Price Fixing" has such a negative connotation. I think collaborative speculation sounds much nicer.

Which term would net you less jail time?

Forgive my ignorance, but is Iran saying THEY will raise the price to over $250 a barrel? Or are they speculating what other countries will charge for their oil if Iran's exports are blocked?

jaylectricity: Forgive my ignorance, but is Iran saying THEY will raise the price to over $250 a barrel? Or are they speculating what other countries will charge for their oil if Iran's exports are blocked?

The latter. Iran produces a lot of oil. Cut off their exports, and world oil prices would soar.

gwydion56: The latter. Iran produces a lot of oil. Cut off their exports, and world oil prices would soar.

Thanks...I thought it was silly that a country could claim a price on a barrel of oil they couldn't sell.

Every time the price of oil goes up, the more incentive the world finds to invest more in green tech.

I say, cut em off. Let the price double or triple. Make it cost-effective for me to buy an electric car and for our buildings to install solar panels and wind generators on the roof. F*ck em.

make me some tea: Every time the price of oil goes up, the more incentive the world finds to invest more in green tech.

I say, cut em off. Let the price double or triple. Make it cost-effective for me to buy an electric car and for our buildings to install solar panels and wind generators on the roof. F*ck em.

As much as I agree, and would add that this would finally convince my client to let me work at home rather than pay for me to fly every week... this'll never happen. :(

make me some tea: Every time the price of oil goes up, the more incentive the world finds to invest more in green tech.

I say, cut em off. Let the price double or triple. Make it cost-effective for me to buy an electric car and for our buildings to install solar panels and wind generators on the roof. F*ck em.

Look, Tea, you have always impressed me as an articulate and intelligent guy but even as stupid as I am, I recognize the pattern of brinksmanship that the people in charge seem to enjoy.

What will it take to make a "cost effective" electric car? Gas will make it to what, $6.00? A shiat ton of people will be totally miserable because they will not be able to afford to get back and forth to work; many will try and take public transit but in a lot of places transit is already really poorly run and it's scary to imagine what a sudden and huge influx of people would do to a system like that. People who are already crying about the cost of producing or shipping consumer goods are either going to outright go out of business -or- the prices of a lot of things are going to skyrocket; putting the people who already can't afford to get gas in jeopardy of not being able to afford food. They won't be able to run out and buy an electric car even though it'd be cheaper than filling up their current car. Oil prices back down from "terrifying" to "scary" and everyone learns to manage the best they can, and the oil goons do it again in a few more months.

While I sure hope that we end our dependance on foreign oil, I am certain that the answer to doing so is not, "durrrrrr we'll just make shiat too expensive for people to buy, then they'll have to buy it!" That's an ideal solution for someone that doesn't have to find a way to live on a $400 biweekly paycheck.

Torqueknot: WAIT!

Wait, wait, wait, hold on here.

No one is commenting on the important bit. The price of gas has dropped below $3.00 somewhere? Where? I paid $3.76 a gallon on friday in L.A. for farks sake.

It is all the fark over the place here in Phoenix. There is one Circle K that has it for $3.05 right across the street from a Shell that wants $3.39. For the most part it is hovering around $3.10.

Imagine what would happen to oil prices if Iran decides to get really pissy and closes the Strait of Hormuz.

It would be war, of course, and the U.S. Navy would likely prevail in reopening the straights in the end. But I could see it being a drawn out and nasty fight.
Iran could drop a LOT of mines in a hurry, and supertankers are VERY big and VERY slow targets for antiship missiles or suicide bombers in speedboats.

What would the price for a gallon of gas get up to in the meantime?

Also, the U.S. would probably have to invade and occupy a small but significant portion of Iran's coastline to make the straight secure enough for supertanker owners to be OK with traversing the area again. How many troops, airpower, and supply lines would it take to sustain and protect all of that against millions of fairly well-armed people willing to die to rid themselves of "the invader and occupier?" What would the U.S. military do about the Iranians living in the occupied areas? Kicking them out or killing them would fit the definition of "ethnic cleansing" just about perfectly. How much would it all cost? Would the Republicans be willing to have taxes raised to pay for it, or would rather see the U.S. plunged trillions farther into debt and have the economy further damaged?

TehNacho: While I sure hope that we end our dependance on foreign oil, I am certain that the answer to doing so is not, "durrrrrr we'll just make shiat too expensive for people to buy, then they'll have to buy it!" That's an ideal solution for someone that doesn't have to find a way to live on a $400 biweekly paycheck.

Short term pain/long term benefit. It would definitely be painful for a lot of people at the outset, until things normalize again. I realize that. No pain, no gain. We can't continue on as we have been. That much is certain. It's also endlessly maddening the amount of control this asshole country run by assholes has over world energy prices. Carving them out will also be of benefit to most of us in the long run.

make me some tea: TehNacho: While I sure hope that we end our dependance on foreign oil, I am certain that the answer to doing so is not, "durrrrrr we'll just make shiat too expensive for people to buy, then they'll have to buy it!" That's an ideal solution for someone that doesn't have to find a way to live on a $400 biweekly paycheck.

Short term pain/long term benefit. It would definitely be painful for a lot of people at the outset, until things normalize again. I realize that. No pain, no gain. We can't continue on as we have been. That much is certain. It's also endlessly maddening the amount of control this asshole country run by assholes has over world energy prices. Carving them out will also be of benefit to most of us in the long run.

Again; I'm not sure that you have any kind of concept.

We're already feeling "pain." In order to get to "we'd be better off buying a new car" most people and businesses would no longer be able to function.

ParaHandy:
The US would have to stop ass-raping its working poor quite as much as it does now, but it can be done.

The first part of your statement proves that the second part of your statement is false.