How do you respond to gasoline "price fixing" allegations?

[Wormius]

Looking at the chart, I really just see that gasoline prices are kept fairly high all the time, so that any major fluctuations in crude oil costs have little impact. Having said that, I just see gas prices continuously creeping up over time and going up and down with oil costs, but the trend is always upwards for the long haul. Inflation kind of sucks that way. Which reminds me, I should ask for a raise to keep up with the cost of living.

By the way, you want awkward moments that you want to get out of, wait until someone starts going on about Peak Oil and the decay of civilization as we know it.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by something

If your friends are bitching about high gas prices and fixing schemes, tell them to ride a bike. It is a pretty easy solution to beat "the man".

I don't even think prices are that bad. Ooh.. you go to the pump and pay an extra $5 because gas went up 10 cents.. It's ridiculous.

Now airlines trying to justify extra fees because of fuel prices does seem like its getting a bit sketchy. Has jet fuel gone up so much that the extra weight of bags is that considerable that they need to start charging for them??

[photon]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Looking at the chart, I really just see that gasoline prices are kept fairly high all the time, so that any major fluctuations in crude oil costs have little impact. Having said that, I just see gas prices continuously creeping up over time and going up and down with oil costs, but the trend is always upwards for the long haul. Inflation kind of sucks that way. Which reminds me, I should ask for a raise to keep up with the cost of living.

Charts can be deceiving that way too so actually having the data and computing moving averages or trendlines or whatever would be more reliable.

I checked though and they want $216 for the data

The other thing to consider is taxes, 24 cents of the cost of gas is taxes and I don't know if that's a percentage or if it's a fixed rate, or how it changes, and in some cases that tax will make the fluctuations in gas prices seem a lot less than they actually are.

Plus there's the other costs, if 25% the cost of gas is tax, 25% refining and distribution and marketing, and 50% cost of oil, then barring any other factors you'd expect the price of gas only to move half as much percentage wise as crude prices.

PLUS it is a business and what the market will bear is part of it.

[ken0042]

Time for me to blow the whistle. I am partly responsible for fixing gas prices.

Back in the late 80's I worked at a gas station. 2 blocks away was another station. I would put my ladder out to change the price, and wait for the other guy to put his ladder out. Once his ladder was out I would go up and change the price that faced his station; which was opposite to the direction traffic was moving. So while he thought we had raised our price already, we had only changed the sign facing him. His sign was bigger and people could see both prices before passing our station. Often people would enter our lot at high speed after seeing our price lower.