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Originally posted by LiquidX But as gas/energy prices goes up, the impact on the economy is pretty seginificant, affecting relatively everything. From the food you eat to the cloth you buy. Meaning.. a rise of price, meaning, less people buying, meaning, less spending, meaning.. oh oh oh oh... economy in a struggle. Isnt it?.. Its a chain reaction.

Certainly they can have an effect on consumer spending, however, they are temporary shocks with wide variability and are therefore not included in the core cpi ... along with food prices. And believe it or not, Bush has had very little to do with the recent increases in energy prices. They are largely influenced by consumer demand, and the prices set by OPEC.

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New York, August 18, 1999 - While rising gasoline prices are causing consternation for U.S. consumers, they are helping to revive corporate lending to the oil & gas industry, according to Loan Pricing Corporation (LPC), which tracks and analyzes the global loan and high-yield bond markets. Lending to U.S.-based oil and gas companies topped $16 billion during the second quarter of 1999, an 86% increase over a slower first quarter of the year, according to LPC. Much of this increase is a direct result of the reduced supply of oil (brought about by unprecedented compliance among OPEC members regarding production cuts) and increased demand world-wide (prompted in part by the summer vacation/travel season and the recovering Asian economies). Companies are taking advantage of the situation. http://about.reuters.com/newsreleas...-1999_id201.asp

Additionally, if you remember back to that little power outtage we had, the closing of US oil refineries for several days certainly did not help gas prices.

quote:

Several U.S. oil refineries were closed on Friday, which sent gasoline prices sharply higher and added to worries over already low fuel inventories. If energy prices climb in a sustained way, they could act as a tax on the U.S. consumer, the backbone of the U.S. economy. http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle....storyID=3286911

At either rate, if gas prices get too high, OPEC will likely step in to reduce prices.

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Retro ...

quote:

Originally posted by occrider Certainly they can have an effect on consumer spending, however, they are temporary shocks with wide variability and are therefore not included in the core cpi ... along with food prices. And believe it or not, Bush has had very little to do with the recent increases in energy prices. They are largely influenced by consumer demand, and the prices set by OPEC. Additionally, if you remember back to that little power outtage we had, the closing of US oil refineries for several days certainly did not help gas prices. At either rate, if gas prices get too high, OPEC will likely step in to reduce prices.

Who cares.. Buzz is back @ Nation!


THREAD-JACK!

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Originally posted by NYGblue Who cares.. Buzz is back @ Nation! THREAD-JACK!

Are they really??? How the hell did they manage that? Any decent headliners coming soon?

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Retro ...

check under USA on TA, I posted the Buzzboard link. they are officially returning 9/12/2003.

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You have one life to live... SO DANCE!

www.protonradio.com <--- A Higher Experience.

CBO: Government Faces 8 More Years of Deficits:

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WASHINGTON - The federal government is in store for at least eight more years of budget deficits, including a record $480 billion shortfall in 2004, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday. The Congressional Budget Office also warned that the numbers will become more dire if the White House gets its way on tax cuts and Congress fails to rein in spending. They said the budget outlook "has worsened substantially" since its last review in March, when it put next year's deficit at $200 billion. Much of that is the result of subsequent acts of Congress to cut taxes and increase spending for defense and the war in Iraq, it said. The CBO, a nonpartisan group, said the budget will edge back into the black in 2012 and 2013, but will record an accumulated deficit of almost $1.4 trillion in the 2004-2013 period.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...federal_deficit

This is one issue that someone like Howard Dean (as a man who oversaw several consecutive balanced budgets in his time in Vermont) could really capitalise on if he gets the ticket in the 2004 elections. The Bush administration is not fiscally responsible, and if these predictions are true then people may more responsive to a more fiscally restrained candidate like Dean than the "spend-now worry-later" lunatics in the Whitehouse right now.

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