Prices will fall, not plummet, at the pumps

Waterbury Republican-American ^ | January 20, 2007 | Madlen Reed (A.P.)

[lawdude]

"But I can't put a number on it, any more than you can put a number on "stealing" or "cheating.""

Stealing is defined as the taking of property without consent of the owner. Cheating is appropriation of something by subterfuge.

Price gouging, in general is charging an exorbitant price by taking advantage of or creating a monopolistic market.

[Some hope remaining.]

that's savings of less than $8 in a month -- not even enough for that daily cup of coffee.

IOW, saving $8 over a month's time won't buy a month's worth of daily coffee.

[Tarpon]

The price of oil will go low enough to make Peloser's alternative fuels way too expensive. Count on it.

[lndrvr1972]

1.95 in Jersey? Really.

[RetiredArmy]

Yup. The dime cup left the house about 20 years ago.

[IronJack]

Stealing is defined as the taking of property without consent of the owner. Cheating is appropriation of something by subterfuge. Price gouging, in general is charging an exorbitant price by taking advantage of or creating a monopolistic market.

All of these are qualitative definitions. They make no attempt to define quantitative limits.

But all of them are accurate, and all of them describe very real phenomena.

[Tailback]

Answer his question.

[italianquaker]

Done

[lawdude]

"All of these are qualitative definitions. They make no attempt to define quantitative limits."

Either a law is broken or it is not. What does a 'qualitative' definition mean?

[IronJack]

Either a law is broken or it is not.

Nobody's talking about laws being broken. At least not civil laws ...

What does a 'qualitative' definition mean?

One that is limited to a description of the NATURE of the item. If I say something is "big," it doesn't mean the same as if I say it is "100 feet high by 90 feet square at the base." The latter is quantitative; it assigns numbers to the object.

In your definitions, you didn't describe "stealing" as "appropriation of property belonging to someone else, said property's value in excess of $1."

"Gouging" is the same kind of offense. It means making inordinate profits by manipulating the market, or by exploiting an inflexible demand. If you were dying of thirst and someone had cornered the market on water so they could charge $50 a glass, they would be gouging you. Would they still be guilty if they charged you $49? How about $20? $10?

The offense isn't quantifiable, but it still exists.

By the way, the offense has nothing to do with your ability or willingness to pay the price demanded. If you were dying of thirst, $50 for a glass of water might seem reasonable, even if usurious.

[unixfox]

No doubt the retail price will continue to decline, but what accounts for the narrowing of the margin since Christmas?

I don't know about you but I call it gouging.

[IronJack]

I don't know about you but I call it gouging.

Shhhhhhhhhh. Haven't you heard? There's no such thing. Who are you going to believe, Common Sense or the lovable shills for the petro industry?

[MarkL]

I paid $1.87 a gallon for gasoline last night. Of course, the leftists want to see gasoline back at the $3.00 (or more) a gallon price, as long as the windfall goes to the gubmint, not the oil companies. They LOVE high gas prices.

Mark

[MarkL]

Your new senator from Missouri, in a debate with Jim Talent before the election.

I hope those that voted for this dolt in Missouri are now happy.....Maybe she can give Patty Murry a run for money as the "Queen of Stupid" in D.C.

McCaskill has said so many incredibly stupid things over the years, it's to be expected. I guess that a bit more than half the voters in the state wanted someone who represented them... The incredibly stupid... Well, them AND the dead.

Mark

[MarkL]

TAXES on one of the most important drivers of any economy.. ENERGY.. Taxes on energy that ADD NOTHING but only forces prices up.. They get you at the pump and get on the price of ANYTHING retailed..

Due to the taxes in Kansas, gasoline prices tend to be 5 to 9 cents a gallon more than in Missouri. I know that my aunt drives across the state line just for buying gasoline in MO for that very reason. Granted, she doesn't live far from MO, but it hurts tax revenues in KS in border cities.

Mark

[LibertarianInExile]

Hawaii might be relying on different gasoline refinery sources. That was reportedly the case in Guam, which I understood got its consumer gasoline from Singapore-based suppliers which weren't subject immediately to mainland U.S. demand spikes or refinery issues (Katrina, for example).

[hosepipe]

The price of gasoline in ANY STATE is far far more than 9 cents.. Government makes more money on taxes from "ENERGY" of ALL forms than the producers do.. FOR DOING LITERALLY NOTHING..

[dirtboy]

"Retailers aren't making their price decisions on the price of crude oil," said John Eichenberger, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Convenience Stores. Instead, they focus on how much they paid for their current load of gasoline, and how much their supplier is telling them their next load will cost.

They want it both ways. They tell us the price of gas spikes immediately upon a crude price increase. But takes time to work through the system through a crude price decrease.

Can't have it both ways.

[fedupjohn]

I'm in Carteret...Middlesex County

[fedupjohn]

1.95 in Jersey? Really.

Low sales tax.