I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

[V6Bob]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Rules should cover things like

2) a cap on the % of inflation which can occur in a certain period of time

Would you also like the government to repeal the law of gravity?

3) some kind of centralized method of administration where gas stations have to register their price changes or seek pre-approval

There's a name for that form of government.

Look, I'm a despised "liberal". But rising gas prices are mostly driven by one thing. Rising oil demand (especially foreign places like China and India), and less new oil being found every year, as we slowly (or maybe not so slowly) run out.

There's no magic solution by finding the bad guy and stopping them. No new vast oil fields will save us. Refinery capacity is not the problem. The only real solution is decreasing our use of oil which is going to be hard, expensive, and will affect your life. It's not pleasant, but it's reality.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Would you also like the government to repeal the law of gravity?



There's a name for that form of government.

Look, I'm a despised "liberal". But rising gas prices are mostly driven by one thing. Rising oil demand (especially foreign places like China and India), and less new oil being found every year, as we slowly (or maybe not so slowly) run out.

There's no magic solution by finding the bad guy and stopping them. No new vast oil fields will save us. Refinery capacity is not the problem. The only real solution is decreasing our use of oil which is going to be hard, expensive, and will affect your life. It's not pleasant, but it's reality.

internet high-five.

[StrtRacer98]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Thank you. Just pull up to the pump, fill your tank, pay the outrageous price, and shut up. Can't do anything about it, and I can't blame anyone but ourselves for this fiasco.

Exactly.... it sucks but what can you do about it?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

I'd like to know how much profit these bastrds who own the gas stations make.

have you missed what we have said about gas stations making slim profit? there profit is when you buy a coke or candy, not gas. since you guys care so much about how much stuff is marked up, why not complain about other things you buy everyday like food, jewlery, cars....etc

[Atreus21]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Would you also like the government to repeal the law of gravity?



There's a name for that form of government.

Look, I'm a despised "liberal". But rising gas prices are mostly driven by one thing. Rising oil demand (especially foreign places like China and India), and less new oil being found every year, as we slowly (or maybe not so slowly) run out.

There's no magic solution by finding the bad guy and stopping them. No new vast oil fields will save us. Refinery capacity is not the problem. The only real solution is decreasing our use of oil which is going to be hard, expensive, and will affect your life. It's not pleasant, but it's reality.

Scarano was wise to suggest that there be a cap on inflation.

Contrary to what most Americans think, inflation is not a phenomenon that just happens. It is the direct and sole result of the Federal Reserve bank printing more money. As such, it is certainly within our capability to control. Most economists, most noteably Milton Friedman, will tell you this.

Granted: The oil supply is limited, and we need to wean ourselves of it. However, I don't believe for a minute that the increase in price is a result of waning supply. One of the good things about Exxon Mobile clearing so much this past quarter is that they will almost certainly open more territory from which to drill, which, if successful, should ease prices. Nonetheless, V6Bob is right. We're beating a very nearly dead horse, and should look to other sources of energy. It's not like they don't exist.

[Camarorulz]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Speeding Firebird: oil companies don't set the price of a barrel of oil, but a barrel of oil is not refined gasoline, which we buy. The oil companies do set the prices for refined gasoline, and they make windfall profits. OPEC and other cartels set the price for a barrel of oil, based on demand and sometimes political considerations. Companies like Exxon-Mobil and Chevron are involved in extracting, refining, and selling at gas stations...you think they don't set the prices??

I'm not saying the corporations are evil for gouging the customer, but that's simply what they are going to do. It's not like their behavior isn't predictable. As I said before, they will charge what they can get and still increase profits. The American car culture and sense of entitlement to cheap energy is the real problem. I was recently without a car for a month (it was getting a rebuild.) You know what? It was a pain in the a$$!! Do you think it's a pain in the a$$ to not have a car in Europe, or even in big cities like New York or Chicago with good public transportation? No, it isn't. Americans (especially in the Midwest) think they're entitled to drive their big cars that guzzle gas and still expect to get gas dirt cheap. I wish I could walk more places. As it is, a trip walking to the 7-11 down the street takes 20-25 minutes round trip: most Americans don't have that kind of time to spare. Maybe I need a bicycle, but that only takes care of my trips to 7-11. If I want to go to the bank or to my parents house or wherever, I NEED a car. Taxis are the alternative, and they're prohibitively expensive. The fact that I need a car just to get around shows that America has a problem relying on private vehicles to transport people everywhere. It's not helping that Americans aren't willing to cut down their extra driving or buy more economical vehicles.

I'm not a green peace bleeding-heart liberal. I drive a Camaro that doesn't get the greatest mileage (especially with a cam and torque converter) but I've cut down my driving significantly in the past few months (as prices have spike) and I don't blame the government (or the small gas station) for gas prices. High(er) gas prices are the fault of the American people, but the American people don't want to accept accountability or make sacrifices to lower gas prices, they want Big Brother in the federal government to take care of them. I am amazed at how far the prices rise without people changing the demand though. The prices would not continue to rise if demand fell off. We are going to see in the next few years just how much Americans are willing to pay for a gallon of gas before the demand starts to fall. I suspect we're not nearly to that point, despite all the whining.

If you're going to gripe about gas prices, heckle the lone SUV driver: 4WD or not, one person does not need all that vehicle.

V6Bob: you make some very good points. You're right, that's reality. We need to stop this consumer-driven wasteful nonsense.

Inflation is not the "sole" result of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. Too many economic factors figure into that (such as the world currency prices compared to the dollar) to judge what SOLE factor causes inflation.

[Scarano]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

have you missed what we have said about gas stations making slim profit? there profit is when you buy a coke or candy, not gas. since you guys care so much about how much stuff is marked up, why not complain about other things you buy everyday like food, jewlery, cars....etc

I must have missed that. But how can you be so sure that gas stations are making just a slim profit. Unless you have seen the books, that is. The main point I am addressing though is the heavy fluctuation of gas prices within a 1-2 day period. Other things we buy everyday like food, jewlery and cars don't have prices which go up and down by the business day. When I buy food, I can expect the price will usually be the same when I go to the store on the following week.

I think the gov't needs to do more to regulate the methods and frequency which gas stations are setting their prices.

[Camarorulz]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

My dad is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) that knows a private gas station owner and has looked at his books. This is what he told me, and it's right. This is not a phenomenon unique to this one guy, it's a reality of the business. Small guys don't profit off of gas. Gas is a necessary commodity to attract customers in to buy the higher-profit items.

Scarano: what you said about price fluctuations is sort of true, but gasoline is a different commodity from anything out there. For example, milk isn't made from a non-renewable, rare resource: only so much oil can be pumped and so much gasoline refined a day, but there isn't such a restrictive limit on the amount of cows we can allocate to produce milk.

[Scarano]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Would you also like the government to repeal the law of gravity?

It doesn't have to be that way. I don't think it would be so difficult for the gov't to establish some basic rules for gas stations which would make a good balance between the owners of the stations and the general user of the product.

There's no magic solution by finding the bad guy and stopping them. No new vast oil fields will save us. Refinery capacity is not the problem. The only real solution is decreasing our use of oil which is going to be hard, expensive, and will affect your life. It's not pleasant, but it's reality.

You make it sound like there are no if ands or buts, this is the way it is period. I don't agree with that. Look, I am not an economics expert but I can see from how many people are talking about it that there is a major concern with the way gas stations are playing with the prices. Are you so convinced that the gas stations are all playing fairly and setting their prices with the customer in mind? How do we know when the price goes up to $3+ per gallon that gas stations are pricing fairly? What about the reserve gasoline in their tanks which they already paid for at a lower price? I think like other areas of business, there are crooks in this field too. There needs to be some kind of oversight, more regulation on the price setting.

[Scarano]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

For example, as 97rs4life mentioned:

7am- 2.95
10am-3.30
1:30pm- 2.97
6:30pm-3.19
10:00pm-3.15

What is the justification and purpose of this ridiculous change of prices throughout the business day? That gas station already had their tanks filled and the price should be set according to what they paid for that gas shouldn't it?

In any case, that gas station could have just set the price at something like $3.05 and left it there. The problem is not the one station alone, it's the way *ALL* the stations are playing the game now. This is why there needs to be some kind of oversight if we want to fix this insane problem.

[V6Bob]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

You make it sound like there are no if ands or buts, this is the way it is period. I don't agree with that. Look, I am not an economics expert but I can see from how many people are talking about it that there is a major concern with the way gas stations are playing with the prices. Are you so convinced that the gas stations are all playing fairly and setting their prices with the customer in mind?

Of course not. What I'm saying is that that's not the problem. It might be a small problem, maybe 5-10 cents worth. Maybe as much as 20 cents, tho I doubt it. There's enough competition in the business to keep it pretty low.

But the real problem is the market driven price of oil due to increased demand and not enough oil. And blaming it on anything else, like gas station owners, just diverts people from the major, real job that needs to be done.

That's the way it is. Period.

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

Contrary to what most Americans think, inflation is not a phenomenon that just happens. It is the direct and sole result of the Federal Reserve bank printing more money. As such, it is certainly within our capability to control. Most economists, most noteably Milton Friedman, will tell you this.

We do attempt to control inflation through several means - mainly the Federal Reserve interest rate. The amount of money in circulation is only one small variable in a complex equation.

Inflation is also about perception - what people perceive the value of a dollar to be. This cannot be capped. Also, capping inflation will lead to a slowdown in the economy. This is why the Fed Reserve chairman tries to maintain a balance between the health of the economy and inflation.

I agree, it is not some mystical thing beyond our control, but the controls are far more complex then you say. (note, I am not an economist).

[Atreus21]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

We do attempt to control inflation through several means - mainly the Federal Reserve interest rate. The amount of money in circulation is only one small variable in a complex equation.

Inflation is also about perception - what people perceive the value of a dollar to be. This cannot be capped. Also, capping inflation will lead to a slowdown in the economy. This is why the Fed Reserve chairman tries to maintain a balance between the health of the economy and inflation.

I agree, it is not some mystical thing beyond our control, but the controls are far more complex then you say. (note, I am not an economist).

Truthfully neither am I, but I've done a little research on it. If we agree that inflation is within our control, we got no beef. :)

[stevethepirate]

Re: I'm so sick of gas stations price gouging.

i know about the gas station owners not making that much off of gas because i work at a gas station... the owner is a regular guy, drives a bonneville, lives in a regular house. i live in a 700k house, paid for in cash, dad retired at 45. you might want to ***** about pharmaceutical companies instead of gas station owners. thats some serious price gouging!