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Thread ID: 79667	2007-05-28 04:39:00	Petrol Prices	kenj (9738)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
553797	2007-05-28 04:39:00	A quiet afternoon and not much to do in the world of retired old codgers. My neighbor over the road was just moaning about the price of petrol and this got me thinking! Number1 wife and I are going to visit family in Papamoa over the weekend and it usually costs what I thought was heaps to drive there and back in the Camry. ($75??) I got to thinking about the price of petrol the odd year or three ago. I dug deep into the memory banks and came up with the figures below. The average wage in the '50s taken from the fact that in 1954 it cost 6 times the weekly wage to fly to Sydney in a flying boat (10 hr journey if there was no headwind. If there was a bad headwind the pilot often made the decision to do a 180 degree turn and return to Auckland) The petrol prices were easy as I used to pump gas as a schoolboy in the early '50s. Some things you don't forget. Anyway, here we go..... 1954... 3 shillings and 4 pence per gallon (074c/litre) 6 gallons cost 1 Pound - those days it would take you around 180 miles Average wage in early '50s was 5 pounds/week So 6 gallons (27litres) cost 20% of a weeks wages 2007... $1.57 per litre 27 litres costs $42.39 Average weekly wage today is $610 So 27 litres (6 gallons) cost 6.95% of a weeks wages OK, anyone like to rip my maths to pieces? Ken :thumbs:	kenj (9738)
553798	2007-05-28 04:48:00	Just another chart to muck things up a little for you: oregonstate.edu	SurferJoe46 (51)
553799	2007-05-28 05:05:00	TYPICALLY, THESE ARE US DOLLARS AND US GALLONS OF GASOLINE, REGULAR GRADE, SELF-SERVICE YEAR------PRICE PER GALLON---INFLATION RATE (2007 DOLLARS) 1950---------------- . 27--------------------------2 . 19 1955---------------- . 30--------------------------2 . 19 1960---------------- . 31--------------------------2 . 05 1965---------------- . 31--------------------------1 . 92 1970---------------- . 35--------------------------1 . 76 1975---------------- . 53--------------------------1 . 92 1980---------------1 . 13--------------------------2 . 68 1985---------------1 . 19--------------------------2 . 16 1990---------------1 . 13--------------------------1 . 69 1995---------------1 . 14--------------------------1 . 46 2000---------------1 . 66--------------------------1 . 88 2005---------------2 . 10--------------------------1 . 90 2007---------------3 . 30--------------------------3 . 30 I copied this off an Automobile Club (USA) chart . . . but I don't think it's really up to date . Our gasoline prices are now about $3 . 45 US/gallon regular grade . :nerd: I am still working on the wages/hour and ratio percentages of paycheck-gallons-food-rent etc . .	SurferJoe46 (51)
553800	2007-05-28 05:32:00	Joe Can you remember what caused the 1981 peak? The oil price crisis first hit in 1976 if I remember correctly? Ken :confused:	kenj (9738)
553801	2007-05-28 05:34:00	Sorry for the triple post here . . . I am not trying for an all time high, but I had a thought . . . . . . . . . Gasoline prices today are only slightly higher, about 8 percent, than they were in 1950 . OK . . I am NOT counting the most recent spike . . but that is a variation that is manipulated anyway . . . . Up until the recent spike, gasoline prices have been considerably lower than 1950 prices on the inflation:ratio to wages thing as the last post I made . Let's think back to 1979 when the government did do something about the cost of gasoline . . . . . . . . . the Carter Administration (commonly called "The Peanut Administration") instituted price controls . What happened? We saw long gasoline lines if the gas station hadn't run out of gas . It's estimated that Americans used about 150,000 barrels of oil per day just idling their cars standing in line . In an idiotic effort to deal with long lines, the Carter Administration introduced the harebrained scheme of odd-even days . A motorist whose license tag started with an odd number could fill up on odd-numbered days, and those with an even number on even-numbered days . Letters at the end of the plate were a problem unto themselves . Now with the recent spike in gas prices, the government has chosen not to pursue more ot the same stupid policies of the past . As a result: NO shortages . We haven't seen long lines . We haven't seen gasoline station fights and riots . Why? Because price has been allowed to perform its valuable function . . . that of equating demand with supply . We call this "supply-side economics" . Our true supply problem is of our own doing . Large quantities of oil lie below the 20 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) . Tree huggers won't let us get to it, and even if we could get it out of the ground, there aren't enough refineries to process the crude anyway . Again, because of environmentalists' successful efforts, it's been 30 years since we've built a new oil refinery . The US hasn't had a new refinery for that many years, and the older ones are running on a band-aid now, afraid to shut down for needed repairs, and afraid to break down for the same reason . The amount of land proposed for oil drilling in the Arctic's 2000 acres, less than one-half of one percent of it is ANWR . The U . S . Geological Survey estimates there are about 10 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR . But environmentalists' hold on Congress has prevented us from drilling for it . "Environmentalists" have also had success in restricting drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the shore of California . Another part of our energy problem has to do with refining capacity . . . . unless there is some breakthrough in where they are going to allow these "NIMBY" devices . (NIMBY= Not In My Back Yard) Very few people realize that the U . S . is also a major oil-producing country . Behind Saudi Arabia producing 10 . 4 million barrels a day, then Russia with 9 . 4 million barrels, the U . S . with 8 . 7 million barrels a day is the third-largest producer of oil . But we could produce more . . . why are we in this pickle? Producers have a variety of techniques to win monopoly power and higher profits that come with that power . What's a way for OPEC to gain more power? Contribute financial support and beat the drum for the "Tree-huggers" and "Environmentalists" . . yup! Taken on face value, if I were an oil tycoon (can you say: "Arab"? . . . can you say: "American sell-out politician"?), I'd make sure that the US production was as low as possible yet keep the demand as high as I could artificially make it .	SurferJoe46 (51)
553802	2007-05-28 06:35:00	Little George thought he was an oil tycoon, Joe. He wasn't very good at it, so he had to become President, and use bombs to drill for oil. The US oil companies are among the largest purchasers of your politicians. If only it was possible to make fuel (or anything useful) from politicians.	Graham L (2)
553803	2007-05-28 15:45:00	Gonna hijack my own thread here . . . It is being pushed around that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the executive branch much like the Pearl Har-bor invasion that the U-S intelligence knew was going to happen . The Japanese code had been broken for a few weeks and the Ar-my read their secret messages like the daily mail . The pent-a-gon (hyphenated here for the slurp-spiders . . . we is being watched/sniffed by . . . er . . . very powerful watchers and sniffers: (read between the lines) . truthout . org/docs_2006/052507M . shtml" target="_blank">www . truthout . org and here: . privacyinternational . org/survey/phr2003/countries/mexico . htm" target="_blank">www . privacyinternational . org) was actually hit by a crui-se miss-ile as there was no evidence of an air-liner or debris from one . Suggestion is that the missing air-liner was ditched at sea, taking all passengers with it . The pen-ta-gon airspace is the most heavily protected in all the world and a pigeon fart could be detected and responded to by attack aircraft in a matter of moments . Just for fun, and on the topic of slurp-spiders and sniffers here's an interesting sidebar to read about the US sponsored Mexican wiretap and e-mail intercept program: Susan Pittman, a spokeswoman for the State Department’s bureau of international narcotics and law enforcement affairs, confirmed that the contract was awarded to Verint on February 23 as part of the U . S . Government’s assistance package to the Government of Mexico to support that country’s law enforcement efforts . In addition to intercepting voice phone calls, the system will allow Mexican law enforcement authorities to intercept e-mail, chat messages and file transfers . According to the State Department’s description of the project’s requirements, the equipment must comply with all applicable Mexican, international and U . S . laws, including the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), the wiretapping law passed by Congress in 1994 . The Verint system is intended to “help ensure that the Mexican Government will have information in a timely manner needed to thwart criminal and terrorist activity and to deter those who strive to exploit U . S . and Mexico national weaknesses,” said the State Department’s document . Now . . ask . . "how much internet traffic goes THRU Mexico?" Is this too "tap-able and readable? Sub-quote here: The communications system’s data storage capacity should be able to save 25,000 hours -- that’s nearly three years -- worth of intercepted telephone conversations . It will also be able to “locate in real time targets on a cartographic plan,” using a software tool from MapInfo Corp . , of Troy, NY . The system Verint will supply to the Mexican Government is likely to be based on its STAR-GATE product which consists of a full range of circuit-switched and packet data lawful intercept solutions . Google this: (again, take out the hyphens: Blac-kwat-er) . It's a full-standing army . Then figger out who's funding it . . . . . that'll rip off your socks . Try this: A small "nuculer" attack (by whom?) in a "friendly area" or one of extreme political interest (Is-rae-l) designed to make Ir-an look like the culprit . . . and you have grounds for another invasio . . er . . . liberation/rescue . Somehow, this pre-si-dent has defied the con-gress and bullied his way almost into a seat of dicta-tor-ship like a madman at the helm of a very large ship . . . . . . it's a happening thing . Some people aren't fooled .	SurferJoe46 (51)
553804	2007-05-29 02:30:00	Actually they estimated that by forcing American SUV manufacturers to up the mpg levels, the USA could actually become energy independent and not have to import any oil and stay with the current production levels. The tree huggers dont see this, instead they want to save ice and bears and penguins etc.	beeswax34 (63)
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