INFOWORLD GRIPE LINE BY ED FOSTER Bookmark this page

  
Display: Sort:
One man's answer to big oil | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment
What is this...[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by Anonymous User on Tue May 02, 2006 at 06:40:20 AM PDT

"As long as the demand exceeds supply" crap I keep hearing about oil? Yes, we consume tons of oil, but I've seen NO signs of actual shortages, the gas stations never seem to run out, and if they do, the truck is less than an hour away from delivery, so it's not a "supply vs. demand issue". The oil companies should not be making records profits while the citizens are being squeezed to death.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]


Think globally[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by Matthew Cervi on Tue May 02, 2006 at 11:49:09 AM PDT

Sure, we don't often run out here in the US (I actually have seen shortages after Hurricane Katrina and currently during the ethanol phase-in), but I suspect poorer countries end up with shortages of gas.

It is simple economics.  If I have 10 widgets and 9 people want to buy them I need to lower my price to attract more buyers.  Likewise if I have 10 widgets but 12 customers, I can raise my prices to find the 10 most willing customers.  The two that don't/can't buy see a shortage.  In this case the US, with plenty of money relatively speaking, doesn't see shortages.

I'm not defending the size of the oil companies' profits (personally I'm more bothered by their executive compensation), but merely pointing out one reason why prices are increasing and how I chose to reduce my exposure that.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]



One man's answer to big oil | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment
Display: Sort:

Menu
· create account
· faq
· search

Login
Make a new account
Username:
Password:

 HOME  NEWS  COLUMNS  BLOGS  PODCASTS  TECHNOLOGIES  TEST CENTER  EVENTS  CAREERS  IT EXEC-CONNECT   About Awards Contact Us 

Copyright © 2006, Reprints, Permissions, Licensing, IDG Network, Privacy Policy.
All Rights reserved. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses,
phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services.

 ComputerWorld :: LinuxWorld :: Network World :: CIO :: PC World :: Darwin :: CMO :: CSO
IT Careers :: JavaWorld :: Macworld :: Mac Central :: Playlist :: GamePro :: GameStar :: Gamerhelp
ITWorld Canada :: Computerwoche :: Techworld UK :: tecChannel :: IDG.se :: IDG.no :: IDG.pl

create account | faq | search