[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]Holly2003 wrote: [/QUOTENAME]
Wow, you just ignored everything I said. Good job. [/QUOTE]
I just didn't think you really had a valid point. We shouldn't force an alternative simply because some people can't afford the current product. That would most likely lead to even less people being able to afford it. If the government forces an alternative, it's going to be less efficient than what currently exists. Even the mild subsidization of ethanol is proving to be inefficient, with negative unintended consequences, such as artificially high corn prices.
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[QUOTE][QUOTENAME] wrote: [/QUOTENAME]Oil prices are not excessive because consumers are still paying them. When the price increases to a level where consumers cannot or will not afford to pay for them, then the most efficient alternative will be created. The fact that this alternative has yet to be discovered and/or put into widespread use is proof that oil prices are not yet excessive.[/QUOTE]
You are oversimplifying the issue. There really is no oil market where consumers have a choice between suppliers and choose the product they like best. The consumer is at the mercy of oil companies who dictate the price. I don't know about other countries but here the fuel prices are exactly the same at all gas stations no matter who owns them. When the prices go up they go up at the same level at all gas stations on the same day and the same is true for oil.
It's not only a economic and ecological issue, it's also a social issue. We don't live in the stone age where the weak people are left to die in the caves. Soon people who are on social security or low income families will need financial help to be able to heat their homes. Low income workers will have a problem to get to work. This will cost the society (i.e. the tax payers) and will cause a lot of additional problems. Energy is not a luxury product we can do without that easily. It's the duty of a responsible society to create alternatives before the poorer part of the society is left behind. We don't live in a shopping mall.
You are oversimplifying the issue. There really is no oil market where consumers have a choice between suppliers and choose the product they like best. The consumer is at the mercy of oil companies who dictate the price. I don't know about other countries but here the fuel prices are exactly the same at all gas stations no matter who owns them. When the prices go up they go up at the same level at all gas stations on the same day and the same is true for oil.
It's not only a economic and ecological issue, it's also a social issue. We don't live in the stone age where the weak people are left to die in the caves. Soon people who are on social security or low income families will need financial help to be able to heat their homes. Low income workers will have a problem to get to work. This will cost the society (i.e. the tax payers) and will cause a lot of additional problems. Energy is not a luxury product we can do without that easily. It's the duty of a responsible society to create alternatives before the poorer part of the society is left behind. We don't live in a shopping mall.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]YourValentine wrote: [/QUOTENAME]
There really is no oil market where consumers have a choice between suppliers and choose the product they like best. The consumer is at the mercy of oil companies who dictate the price. [/QUOTE]
Uh, no. That's not how it is at all.
The Oil Companies are not manufacturing their own product, they are buying it thru rights secured by their company's contract with the country producing it. The Oil Companies are simply contracted labor. If a country wanted to, they could set a lower price. But that's not going to void those contracts already in place.
If the oil companies dictacted the prices, how could they continue? They have to buy the oil from somewhere?
There really is no oil market where consumers have a choice between suppliers and choose the product they like best. The consumer is at the mercy of oil companies who dictate the price. [/QUOTE]
Uh, no. That's not how it is at all.
The Oil Companies are not manufacturing their own product, they are buying it thru rights secured by their company's contract with the country producing it. The Oil Companies are simply contracted labor. If a country wanted to, they could set a lower price. But that's not going to void those contracts already in place.
If the oil companies dictacted the prices, how could they continue? They have to buy the oil from somewhere?
The free market of...oil! Hahahaha. It's not too high because...people are still buying it. The market will find a solution, it may take long.
Really? :-))) As long as you disregard reality and economic history, your argument is just fine! Hahaha. It were governments, by the way, with carefully designed plans and "subsidies", that is, investiments, and not the "market" - I don't know which concept you work with when you talk about free-market - which found out solutions to numerous issues throughout the last century. I don't even know what's in your head when you say "free-market". Must be a Wittgensteinian issue, Sprachspiele.
Oh, dear, I have to print it and take it to the Economics department. People are in bad need of some laugh there, it'll make them happy.
Geez, thanks, this was a good piece of joke. Carlin's mode.
Really? :-))) As long as you disregard reality and economic history, your argument is just fine! Hahaha. It were governments, by the way, with carefully designed plans and "subsidies", that is, investiments, and not the "market" - I don't know which concept you work with when you talk about free-market - which found out solutions to numerous issues throughout the last century. I don't even know what's in your head when you say "free-market". Must be a Wittgensteinian issue, Sprachspiele.
Oh, dear, I have to print it and take it to the Economics department. People are in bad need of some laugh there, it'll make them happy.
Geez, thanks, this was a good piece of joke. Carlin's mode.