Don’t believe everything a Democrat says just because you don’t trust Republicans. Republicans lie so much I no longer believe anything they say, and they’re lying about gas prices too; when a Democrat talks, he’s not necessarily right, but at least you get to use your critic[...]
Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category
How Biden could have prevented high gas prices
He couldn’t have prevented the years of low oil prices and cheap gas that gutted oil company profits. (For example, Exxon’s profit dropped from $32.5 billion in 2014 to $7.8 billion in 2018, and the company lost $22.4 billion in 2020.) That was engineered by Saudi Arabia to kill off the [...]
Who’s to blame for inflation?
Republicans will tell you Biden is. Mark Zandi, a respected economist (bio here), breaks it down in the chart at left. Isn’t it obvious this is all Biden’s fault? Let’s go through it item-by-item. Russian invasion of Ukraine That’s 3.5% right there, and Biden admits it contr[...]
Why a gas tax holiday won’t lower pump prices
President Biden is warming up to a federal gas tax holiday (see story here), but will it help motorists? Or is it just empty election-year politics? Probably the latter. Let me explain why, starting with a simple supply-demand graph from Econ 101. In a free market, a lower price increases demand but[...]
Are meatpackers gouging us?
Prices for eggs, chicken, beef, pork, and fish are rising much faster than inflation (see chart below). Consumer advocates claim meatpackers like Tyson are price-gouging. Biden argues they can do it because of the meatpacking industry’s monopolistic character. Let’s check this out. Sharp[...]
June 7th, 2022 - 10:44 pm § in Economics
How 2022 gas rationing works
There’s only so much oil and refinery capacity. Not enough to go around. So rationing is in effect. Gas is being rationed by the free market, not the government. It goes to those with government-printed rationing coupons that look like this (photo, left). Drivers with the most coupons get the [...]
Democrats want to tax oil company “excess profits” again
It happens every time. Gas prices are cyclical; they go up, come down. Nobody complains about cheap gas; but every time it goes up, Democrats want to slap “excess profit” taxes on oil companies. They talked about this in the 1970s, and now they’re talking about it again (see story [...]
Can we quit the inflation B.S. now?
CNN does most of the work, so I’ll refer you to their article here, and summarize highlights and correct errors. 1. The blame game The headline says, “Washington can’t have an honest debate about inflation,” which is true. That’s because “it’s largely a char[...]
Update: $10 gas? Not so fast. Here’s the backstory
A KIRO-TV news story (here) on Friday, May 20, 2022, clarified how that viral story about $10 gas in Washington state got loose into the wild. Their story (edited here for length, and to stay within “fair use” guidelines): ” … [T]here are headlines – not quite correct – t[...]
May 18th, 2022 - 1:17 pm § in Biden, Business, Donald Trump, Economics, Foreign Affairs, Politics, Russia
$10 gas coming to Washington state? Not so fast.
The Daily Mail, a U.K.-based tabloid with a rightwing slant that I sometimes use as a story source (because they publish suspects’ names and publish photos of the bodies when other media won’t) posted the following headline on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 (here): Gas stations in Washington re[...]