I recieved an e-mail suggesting a public moritorium of gasoline purchaces April 7 thru 9. Do you think that it could bring down prices? Would supply & demand be effected in that short time? I’m willing to try it, are you?
Carl
It could affect prices in such a short amount of time, IF enough people participated. Like half of the American population. Seriously, I don’t know how many are needed, but this sort of thing is not without precedent.
A hush fell over the courtroom, killing six.
This issue has been hashed out on another great site.
Follow this link from the good folks at the San Fernando Valley Folklore Society: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/gasout.htm
Another great idea ruined by pesky facts.
Now you pissed me off. You and I? We’re NEVER gonna be friends.
I just want to see my post total.
Yes, it’s a stupid idea but I have to take issue with something from the snopes link :
By that logic, the price of EVERYTHING has more than doubled in the past year and a half. I saw gas as cheap as 69 cents a gallon in December '98. Does that mean that if you adjust that 69 cents to year 2000 dollars, it equals $1.50?
I am the user formerly known as puffington.
For the record, I read that adjusted to Y2K dollars, we were paying about $2.60 for unleaded regular back in '86.
I honestly doubt that a “gas-out” would work because hell, they can wait. Unless we all actually develop ways to use less gasoline (or use the ways we have developed) we’re gonna have to fill our tanks eventually. I dare say that OPEC can weather 4 days of non-sales since on the 5th day their sales will skyrocket 400%.
“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
If you just want to see your post count, click on Profile. It’s more accurate than the margin info, anyway.
If life were always like this…if they took your guns and left this stuff…we’d live a lot better.
I, myself, will use as much gas as possible those days.
Voted Biggest Smartass by all you beautiful people!
You always use violence. I should’ve ordered glutinous rice chicken.
Good point, the lines should be shorter and the pumps more accessible.
I can see the gas station owners now, meeting in secret- “We’ll be ruined, no one is going to buy gas anymore, let’s drop our prices and sell it at a loss, how could we have been so stupid as to try and make a living”.
Try conserving.
Seconding frolix, here. I got one of these idiot e-mails a couple days and promptly sent it to the trash bin. People that think this sort of thing works have no concept of basic economics.
Fer instance: The e-mail suggest that the day before the “gas-out” we go and fill our tanks so we won’t need any gas for those days. What the hell is this supposed to prove? You want lower gas prices? Take a note from the late 70s. Park those blasted Buicks that get 12 MPG, and get yourself something that doesn’t need to stop at gas stations every other day. Car pool. Do whatever it takes to lower long term demand of gasoline. Three days with a buying spree before it (and no doubt after it) will have no effect.
What scares me, though, is this. If the petroleum companies are smart (and they are), they would gradually raise gas prices by, let’s say, another .15. Then on April 9th they can raise their hands, say "Okay, we give up." and drop the price by .10. This would give them another nickel increase and make people think they’ve succeeded at the same time.
Excuse my ranting. I used to work for a major oil company, and it always bothered me that gas prices were inflated near the refinery.
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