Everyone has thrown out reasons for this recession/depression, I have always believed it was caused by the cost of energy. Yes, people were living above their means in homes they could barely afford, most were right on the edge of affordability in their budgets, living paycheck to paycheck but they were making it, then fuel skyrocketed.
I also believe a cheaper fuel source at this time would lift the whole world out of this quagmire.
Agreed on both points. Four dollar a gallon gasoline started the current conflagration.
The cost of energy is strangling our economy. Econ 101. The cost of a product would include cost or raw materials, cost of labot, and cost of energy to produce it.
Our labor costs can’t compete with the Chinese and third world, but our efficient means of production probably mean we can garner the raw materials and make the product (steel for example) competitively with the Chinese. If we had a significant advantage in energy, that would help level the playing field. The real crime the global warming alarmists are committing is making us non-competitive in the realm of energy costs. If we used the coal we have, drilled where we know we have abundant oil and natural gas supplies, and jump started our nuclear energy program ,we could be on the ay to energy independance in no time flat. Not to mention, employing millions of Americans to build the plants, drill the land, and lay the pipelines. Added benefit would be keeping our $ here rather than sending them to Hugo, the Saudis, etc.
Nope.
As a percentage of what a family spends every month, the money spent on fuel is minor. Even if it DOUBLED in price, most families would be able to absorb the increase without crushing them. Double the average family's mortgage payment, however, and they now have a Big Problem.
The causes of the recession are well documented, and fuel prices are not among them.