Posted by
Vince on Friday, August 11, 2006 12:36:29 PM
One has to keep the price at the pump in perspective. The gas prices for 87 octane here in the Cleveland area have been hovering around the $3 mark for months. Depending on what part of the country you reside, that price is lower or higher. Okay. So what? To me, that is not a big deal. I do recall the price per gallon back in the 80's being under a dollar and under $2 in the 90's and how it didn't mean a whole lot to me then either. But that's me.
Now opinions like mine are a dime a dozen. I do like to take logical approach however and again go back to the prospective thing I mentioned above. All of us consumers should do the same but unlike the logical approach, reports by the media and reactions to a $.10 increase over night become purely emotional. Liberal politics, anti-business and anti-capitalism entities that spin the reported profits as a result to "gouging" consumers add to this "emotional distress". The profits that the oil companies make can be utilized for research and expansion for refining which in turn will created jobs, increase reserves and reduce dependance on other countries. An oil company's gross margin is around $.09 profit for every dollar. The rest is passed onto us, the consumers, because of other costs and taxes. Do the research on other companies as I have started and will continue to do. Financial institutions are $.15 to $.20. Tobacco and pharmaceutical companies are over $.20. Walmart on the other hand is about $.03. Again politics, government and evironmentalist organizations make this difficult if not impossible.
In a perfect world all consumers would be thinking people that don't believe everything they hear and would research why if the facts reported don't seem correct. Especially if one thinks it affects them adversely. I try to be one of these people although our world is not perfect. I don't like to spend more than I have to and I especially don't like to be taxed by the government but not enough focus is on the latter in my opinion. That however is a different subject.
Again, keep it real. Keep it in perspective and do the research on what actually is. I'm all for companies making profits. Thats what it is all about. That's how the economy grows and stays strong and competative. More regulation by government can and will only hurt. My politics are unimportant but with this writing you can see which way I lean.
So with all things considered I'll start to complain about fuel prices when they hit $15 a gallon.