vision2020
Re: Gas price elasticity
When speaking and comparing European and American gas prices, it is
important to remember that gasoline prices in many European countries
reflect the mass transit subsidies imposed by the governments. How much
would we pay if we were subsidizing daily train service between Lewiston,
Moscow, Pullman, Colfax, Spokane? I, for one, would be willing to pay more
for gas if we had an english style commuter train system that goes
everywhere.
John
John and Laurie Danahy
jdanahy@turbonet.com
----- Original Message -----
From: William K. Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>
To: Moscow <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2000 10:52 PM
Subject: Gas price elasticity
> Oh, no! Not the gas pump again! Then don't read any further. BUT, it's
> surely interesting how quickly the pump price jumps straight up following
> rises in the international crude price (like in Jan.-Feb, about .20 in a
> few weeks. Over the past two weeks, crude has dropped between 15-20%, from
> a high of $30-33 down to between $22-25 (depending on sources). Bill
> Richardson's oil diplomacy obviously had some impact. But have you seen
any
> change at the pumps? It's still $1.64-66 around here.
> Of course we Americans ought not to complain, as compared to European
> prices,which are 2-3 times higher (but their economies run at higher unit
> costs across the board-- at least twice ours). And our oil products
benefit
> from subsidies which we do not see, to ease transortation costs that
> undergird our material life style. Higher costs of oil products will help
> reduce pollution, traffic, accidents, noise, ozone depletion, etc. So I
> guess I am not complaining about the price of gas, just pointing to an
> anomaly that constantly plagues the Moscow-Pullman area, for unknown
> reasons other than some pocketbooks seem to be better feathered with green
> stuff than others. Is it fair? that's all.
> On a related but longer note, the more we consume, develop physical
> plant, and burn fuel, the more we threaten earth's natural sustainability.
> The evidence pointing to ultimate ecosystem breakdown is overwhelming but
> rarely gets into the daily press to educate people about it. "It's just
not
> newsworthy!" Ho, hum, fiddle dee-dee. Have a good week all, and don't buy
> too much gasoline. Ken M.
>
>
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