Today's stock market may be a harbinger of things to come.(Dow down about 400 points)
Crude up about $10.00 a barrel. This is ominous.
It begins to seem that there is not enough crude being produced to supply the demand. Even a slight shortfall can ( and will )cause wild speculation and ever increasing prices.
The air transport business is about to be ruined. The price of flying must go up and few of us will be able to afford to fly. Gasoline and diesel are likely to go through the roof. Think like $8.oo or $10.00 a gallon (pretty soon). The auto industry will take a terrible blow. Our wonderful Boeing Co. will have trouble selling aircraft. Prices of food and goods will skyrocket as the dollar sinks even further in value.
In short - The US and maybe the world will sink into a terrible depression and I cannot see how we or they will ever recover.
Blame? Lets put lots of it on our congress.Their inaction over the last 10 or 15 years is unbelievable. Right now oil is the problem. The solution stares us in the face. You and I know what should have been done. Now it may be too late.
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4 comments:
I have to concur about government inaction.
I had a conversation just this evening with Holly, and it is my contention that governments - nearly wholesale - are simply unable to be nimble and responsive.
It might be a size thing - but it is my feeling that no matter all the bravado, the truth is that there are few true patriots left to govern our country. And for me, a patriot is one who puts the needs of the country and his/her countrymen above their own need for money, power, status (i.e. re-election).
Not sure this is THE solution, but I would love for every single elected government position to be single termed. Single as in you get to server one elected term to a US post in your lifetime. We could lengthen terms a little maybe, but NO re-elections. We also need to do something about the cost of running for office. I don't think there is a single US government elected official who is not outrageously wealthy. I don't like the idea of capping expenses/contributions for elections, but if that is what it takes...
Great post Tom.
As an added note, our government rewards inefficiency and thus will continue to grow larger. The larger it gets, the less efficient it is. This is a recursive problem. Scary!
I believe that without eliminating the fuel tax altogether, our government (federal and state) will not see a compelling need to bolster efficiency to reduce demand.
Nancy
I will say, concerning the current state of events...
I am very unhappy with our fine Congress' vote today. it was a sensible piece of legislation that could have finally taxed the right entities (Big Oil) and invested in alternative energy research.
Our governance is rather poor, I'm afraid.
I guess I will add 2 more centavos for what it is worth.
Much as I like to blame government (it is fun isn't it?), I think we have a co-dependent situation. As voters, too often we vote too narrowly (i.e which vote will give me more immediate benefits/money in pocket). As long as we vote selfishly, we will get politicians who govern selfishly.
It is an age old problem, but one I think has moved from being a distraction to being a detriment to our country.
Give our politicians term limits and accountability/transparency, and some of the problem goes away.
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