Is it really bad for the price of oil to be high?

Doesn't it force us to use the oil we have more efficiently, or even better, find an alternative to oil faster?Is it really bad for the price of oil to be high?
Not if you or your family have investments in oil companies( i.e. bush, Cheney et,al) Bush and his pals were trying to get their hands on all oil in Uzbekistan for years, but to do it they needed a pipeline in Afghanistahan ( as the alternative was Iran). They tried to negotaiate with the Taliban, but didn't get far. By starting a war there they theorized that they could eventually form a stable governement which would let them build their pipeline. In the meantime, they can now afford to sell oil from the Canadian Tar fields. At a cost of $30/barrel to produce( vs. $1 for caspian sea and persian gulf oil) it has only now at $60/barrel become economical to produce) George Bush abd his speech about the addiction to oil are about as sincere as Phillip Morris telling us to quit smoking.Is it really bad for the price of oil to be high?
A qualified thumbs-up on this. At least we had the ';cooperation'; of the Taliban in hiding Al Qaeda, thus furnishing a credible reason for war in Afghanistan. The Bushies also theorized about access to Iraq's oil but had to use grossly fake excuses to go there. Report Abuse

Good grief. Bla bla . . . show some proof for your answers. On the far fetched end of the scale this is crazy and blurs releality and does no one any good. Report Abuse

Why don't you look at things based on fact instead of feelings. If you looked at this from an economic point of view you would see that your original statement that the price leads to efficientcy is true. Report Abuse

Of course not...and is the price really ';high?'; It's simply reached a market-clearing rate, the price only goes up if people are willing to pay more. That indicates higher demand, prices go up and gives producers an incentive to bring more oil to market. Additional sources, such as smaller wells, come online that aren't viable when prices are lower. The new supply means prices stabilize or drop (this is why oil prices collapsed in the '80s after being so high in the oil embargo days in the '70s). Simulataneously, rising prices motivate consumers to use less. Oil is a commodity and it's all about economics 101: supply and demand. Consumers gripe, but their own behavior is one of the key drivers in the price of oil.
No. The rising cost of oil is a good thing. People wont switch to alternative fuels until they have an economic incentive to do so. Alternative fuels are simply too expensive relative to oil. As oil prices rise the alternatives become more attractive.





Its the natural order of things.
It would be nice if it just stayed one price for a little while. But I expect it will just keep going up.
Yes and no. Yes because then people will buy less gas and probably if they want to save money they would buy a better enviroment car. No because then America has to buy this gas for a large price and then we need to keep raisng prices to pay for this.
Perhaps...but it still takes a pretty large chunk out of the pocketbook!
The price of oil is not that high. The profits for the oil companies have never been so high. It was on the news the other day. The government still lets the companies charge outrageous prices for gas. Talk to your congressperson, Senate and Bush about that one. Profits for gas has never been this high and NC is getting ready to raise the already highest in the nation gas tax. Go figure. The average Joe is not making any money off of this are we?
I think oil should be higher maybe $10 a gallon. Then we will see some serious oil conservation, and new inventions will come to the market quicker.
if oil prices are high then people will be forced to consume less. but their is a flaw is this idea, the very rich will still be able to guzzle lots of oil. on the other end of the spectrum the poor will not be able to afford it. of course this would prompt them to use public transportation which, depending on where you go is not in the best shape. in conclusion, it has little or no effect on the rich, takes a bigger chunk out of the middle classes wallet, and makes transportation harder for poor people.
It should be higher, the extra money should be pooled and used for green space protection.
since energy is a crucial input of an economy and forms a considerable part of consumption, it will affect hugely the purchasieng power as a whole.. while it is a considerable input, it is going to result in high inflation and this again is bad for the economy..





http://urbansiege.blogspot.com
It's not all that high, if you compare it to the price of milk and orange juice. We pay more for that and don't complain.
It sucks, i have to file bangrupcy now cause i cannot afford to fuel my motor home and all my other cars bush is letting them rip us off .
it is really bad for the price of oil to be high.


but no matter how high the price,the modern world has become so dependent on oil that the consumption will never decrease.
no cus of inflation and deflation think bout this every 1 has a car. think bout this gas was 50 cents back then now when its 5 bucks now and the gas goes price goes down to 3 bucks the ppl say gas went down it did but it went up 1.50
in general , Yes. high oil price not only affect drivers, but also the economy as a whole, pushes up inflation, in the end it means negative economic growth, high unemployment,.....
Well with all the answers you have I guess you know the answer. YES


When oil goes up it cost everyone MORE MONEY. even if you dont own a car or a house. We The USA have billions of drums of Oil but we wont let it out for use unless we have none at all. Its all a money game who can make a million in a min- You have to remember these companys and people dont care they have all the money in the world so if gas is 50bucks a gallon it does not matter.


They say the USA is FREEDOM. I would like to know where it is. The Goverment has screwed everyone from the vets to evryone who is in the service now and right down to me and you. They tell us what we can and cant do and tell us when to do it and tell us how much to pay for it and also tell us sorry you dont have the money to get good healthcare.
Yes it is bad because now prices for everything go up. If you order something online then you will have to pay more for shipping. My high school had to raise the prices of cafeteria food to help pay for the delivery service's gas bills.
not really.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) tend to be driven by the price of oil. Since transportation of goods and services is a huge factor in their cost, increased fuel costs contribute greatly to increased transportation (and in many cases, production) costs. Increased costs leads to inflation. Inflation is known in laymen's terms as ';too much money chasing too few goods.'; To check inflation, interest rates rise. Increased interest rates, in general, are not good for the economy because when the cost of borrowing money is prohibitive, then investment in goods, services and infrastructure slows down, contributing to lower GDP or a lower rate of increase in GDP.





What are some advantages of high oil costs ? Well, environmentally, there is an incentive to use alternative fuels. Also, strange as this sounds, if oil producers are raking in the big bucks, they have some extra cash to pour into Research and Development for alternative fuels / sources.





Any advantages to high interest rates ? Well, I suppose if you're sitting on a lot of liquid assets, you can get some pretty good returns on your money. However, real assets such as housing tend to suffer in a high-interest-rate environment.
Of course not. The price of everything should be really high. That way all the hard working lower class people could not afford to live here and the U.S. could be a country of Paris Hilton's.
no: we wont buy as much oil: 4 every 2gallons we use, 1 gallon is found. yes: we will spend 2 much on our cars
Yes! Every time the price of oil rises it causes the price of everything else that is transported anywhere to rise also. Wages, pensions and retirement incomes do not rise proportionately to the overall increase, thereby making everyone poorer. That is, EXCEPT the people in the oil industry!
yes
It is not bad if you have stock in the oil companies.
For all the people who await hydrogen as if it's the second coming: Wake Up! It won't be the panacea you think it is. Hydrogen isn't just lying around waiting for us to make the motors that burn it and the tanks and distribution systems to make it usable everywhere. It takes more energy to separate hydrogen from water than you get back when you burn it. Where will that energy come from? Mostly from oil! Yes, there are alternate sources: natural gas, coal and nuclear. But we have those now, so all hydrogen will do is introduce another, energy-losing stage between source and end user.


And the pollution impact? They call this ';displaced pollution';. The planet gets somewhat more loading than before, only with hydrogen the sources tend to concentrate at the power plants rather than at every car. So the net results of converting to hydrogen are less efficient use of fossil fuels, more pollution and more busy-work for industry. Big hooray.


Now a physics question (and answer). How can we live the wasteful lifestyle we refuse to give up, accommodate our longer lifespan and still reduce pollution? Easy. Fewer children. Something's gotta give.
In relative dollars, gas was around $2.00/litre ($.90/gal) in the 1970's, and peole could not afford to drive.





Although expensive now, people aren't driving less, just complaining.





Gas prices will not cause society to seriously search for an alternative fuel source till it hits $2/litre.





This does push research for alternative fuels but only reactively, not pro-actively.
Yes and No.
It's not good for the pocketbook but think of it this way. If prices were cheap we would never look at the possibility of using hydrogen to fuel our cars someday. Hydrogen is a component in water (H2O) and we have plenty of that. We also would never think of weaning our country off of Arab oil. With all the money we give the Arab countries for oil, we in effect our providing the rope that hangs us. When they can't finance the terrorist attacks or buy military equipment, we will be a much safer country.
Yes it affects the whole world economy. and there are allready a lot of alternative ways but the consequences of using them are not all sure yet and therefore we still reach for the ones we have.
Yes I believe it is bad, causing many people who really cannot afford the high prices to suffer. It does have some benefits such as conservation though.