So you guys really want to know why gas is priced like it is?
In order for an industry to change you can either wait for it to happen OR force it to happen.
When an industry waits for change to happen, it gets caught between the chopping block and the ax. Usually the industry is caught off guard and the extreme takes place forcing many companies to disappear. This is compared to an individual who is healthy one day and has a massive heart attack the next day. This is a catastrophic change that no one wants kind of deal.
The other way you have change is to take the bull by the nose ring and guide him where you want him to go. This is done on your terms.
Without looking up all of my old information, I'll just give you guys the gist of it. In the early 1950's a geologist made the calculated prediction that the earth's capacity to produce oil would peak in 1969 to 1971 (he called an exact year I just can't remember specifically which one). We had the oil embargo in (about) 1973 because this geologist happened to miss the peak production year by about one year. Enter Henry Kissinger who made a deal with Saudi and later OPEC that all oil could only be bought with U.S. dollars.
(Now on a side note, Saddam Hussein was a terrible man but the real reason the US went to war with him was because he felt the OPEC nations were getting screwed and he wanted to let nations use the currency of Saddam's choice...Iran is doing the same thing right now. They want to accept the Euro. Research the Iranian oil bourse to double check my info)
Back on track...Now the US Dept of Energy knows how the world's oil reserves are going and just about every single country's peak production has either occured or will occur by approximately 2012. So they know we need a new form of energy.
Now tie this in with our current Recession.
We can't go to war to stimulate our economy because we are already in one. Interest rates are already low despite being in a housing correction. So what else is there? Raise the gas prices so people will be forced to recognize the need for a new what?
A new fuel efficient vehicle for their family! Remember, interest rates are super low and way too many people drive cars/trucks/suv's that get less than 20 mpg. When an economy has slowed, the first thing economists watch for a recovery is...?
That's right! New car sales.
New car sales lead the recovery and will show the public that "everything is gonna be just fine." But the idiots running the show don't understand what this type of recovery does. It forces the already maxed consumer to take on way more debt which will devastate the US economy on the next correction.
Bottom line? High gas prices are being used to stimulate the economy.
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