Mr. Tasich's Global Issues Forum

I think we should talk about the Bird Flu as a Global Issue. I hear it is comeing to the U.S. in two weeks. Is that true?

Thanks for the comments Jenna. We have talked about bird flu quite a bit. It is a scary problem and could became a pandemic like AIDS.

at least we wont have to worry about it effecting the Internet...ha

they just found the bird flu in afganistan...i think it has a really good chance of getting here quickly. n i think the US has responded pretty good...they wanted war by doin 9/11 right?

I think that the gas prices will keep going up because the government and the suppliers of the gas know that no matter what Americans will keep buying gas. I wish that the gas prices wouldn't keep raising but I think they won't be lowered for awhile.

Ashley, the higher the price of gas goes, the less of it Americans will buy.  We learned during the Katrina aftermath, that Americans would start changing their driving habits when gas started to reach certain levels.  We slowed our purchasing, which, in turn, built up supplies and the prices began to come down.

The government really has no control over the price of gasoline (outside of the possibility of opening up new drilling in the US) it all depends on the markets.  

Ahh..I see Mr. T vs. Mr. D II coming...

Yeah Mr. Dobbie that's why we have seen the price of gas go down right? Because people like to live in cold homes and not drive to work. Prices have gone up (like this week)and gas companies have reaped in record profits. Speaking of Katrina, oil companies in the Gulf reported that they suffered so much damage that prices needed to be raised. Sounds fair. But then they come back with record profits. Where did that money go? How do you have record profits in disaster?

What does the federal gov't do? Lead an investigation. Where did that go? Nowhere. Why? PAC and lobby groups give tons of money to both the Democrats and Republicans (but mostly to Republicans, about 75%) Guess who controls both houses of Congress and the Executive Branch...I am not trying to be partisan. That is a fact no one can dispute. This is not a partisan debate. Check out the facts at:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=E01

This is great site for everyone (Republicans, Democrat or Independent) to see where their senators and representatives get their money. And yes, the gov't does have control on the price of gasoline...by supporting alternative fuels (corn oil) and power supplies (solar and wind). Right now, the Michigan congress is working on how to treat the corn oil craze. Democrats wanted to make all gas stations in Michigan incorporate corn oil into their stations while Republicans wish to give only tax breaks to those who volunteer to do it. The bill passed none the less. Check it out at either site.

http://083.housedems.com/?p=178 (Michigan Democrats)

http://www.migop.org/pressreleases/readarticle.asp?id=3198 (Michigan Republicans)

PS - I still have to finish Mr T vs. Mr D I :)

It takes time for people to change their long term habits.  Prices go up due to market demands, people eventually reconsider their gas guzzling cars (The Dobbies will be swapping n of their beloved SUV's for a car this Summer)

World wide demand for oil is through the roof, as China and India start to use energy a little more like we do, so prices have trended up (not counting Katrina) opening more supply (oil and otherwise) would result in that changing, but like anything, it won't be overnight.

A lot of companies make profits (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/)
...if there weren't profits, there wouldn't be companies.  The worst thing for the US to do would be to say that Oil Companies are not allowed to turn a profit anymore.  That would quickly lead to massive shortages of gas/oil and prices that would make the $2.43 I paid today look like a bargain.

An article on this topic from Economist Thomas Sowell.  http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=4599

Thanks for the article. I was not aware of the Supreme Court's decision. Big oil is an easy choice. You need someone to blame and it always falls on the oil companies. I just have a hard time with the US when it gets on Venezuela for actually lowering prices on oil to help out Americans. How dare they, some poor Latin American country helping out the all-powerful US. Demand is up and will be on the rise as long as India and China continue to grow astronomically as they have been over the last decade.

It is not so much the profit, I understand that. Casinos are in it for the profit too. But it is how much profit is needed? I asked kids while I was teaching the age of Robber Barons and crackdowns on unions and socialism this question: "Should there be limit as to how much money a company can make? Where does it stop?" The answers were very surprising and led to great discussion. The majority of students said that there should be a limit. I replied that they were part socialist/communist. Of course, they were surprised by that.

Kudos to you and your wife leaving the dark side of transportation. Maybe just maybe we can go that one step further and get dare I say it, "Mass transit." :) (Gasp!)

Profits reward individuals and companies for good ideas and good execution.  They reward people for investing in their ideas, for taking a chance.  High profits also encourage others to jump into that business.  (The Ty Company makes a killing off of little cute bean animals, demand skyrockets, prices follow.  Other companies come in, making little cute bean animals.  The prices of beanie babies start to plummet.  The profits that Ty made originally encouraged other businesses to jump on the bandwagon, in the end, making beanie babies cheaper than they originally were.  Profits are GREAT for consumers.)

Part of the reason communism and socialism fail in practice is that their citizens have no incentive to come up with new ideas, new ways to do things better, etc.  because they can't make a profit...they get nothing out of it.  

If we told oil companies, 'you are only allowed to make 1 billion in profits this year' they would stop producing oil when they get to that point, lay off their workers, sit back and watch the gas stations run out of fuel, and wonder why the American government wants to see our economy crumble.

If we told Bill Gates, or any other entrepreneur, that 'you are only allowed to make $100,000 a year, there would be no encouragement for him to continue working, developing new products/technologies, because there's no reward.

Once again, in a perfect world, we'd all do the Marx thing...from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.  But, that's been tried.  It doesn't work.  

Mass Transit.  As long as cars are still as affordable as they are and oil is still as affordable as it is, true Mass Transit will never work in our area.  The reason its so successful in New York City is that it costs almost as much to park a car in the city as it does to have an apartment there.  Its cheaper and easier for people to take the Subway.  

Here, parking is free and abundant, people driving in their own cars, listening to their own stations, etc.  Building a train line from Ann Arbor to Detroit to here, won't change that fact.  I think that would be the opposite of "Field of Dreams"  If you build it, they still won't come.

As for the oil companies I do believe that it was wrong to gouge prices. But you have to look at them as a publicly traded company. Like any other company they are out to make a profit. And to benefit shareholders, they want that profit to rise every year. As a publicly traded company on the NYSE you have to look at it from their point of view. Yea they want a good public image but they also want to impress walstreet. I have stock in, bp, exxonmobil, connoco philips, and other companies on the nyse. In cluding abercrombie. People don't care if they rip people off for a ugly polo shirt. But it is different if it is for gas because people are basicly forced ot buy gas. It is different when people spend money on something they need to survive. Or how about ciggarettes? People don't need ciggarettes but they continue to buy them at high prices anyways just to smoke and burn money away in ashes. The overall view is why there should be government price caps there should also be some understanding by consumers. And oil and gasoline prices are not just the governments problem. It is all our problems. We need to all come together and fine a safe, practical, alternative fuel.

Great point, Matt.  

I would argue, that, to a degree, people are not forced to buy gas.  They can buy smaller cars, live closer to their jobs, take public transportation, etc.

Price caps, or ceilings would be terrible though.  It was tried in the 1970's and resulted in massive shortages as companies failed to produce because they wouldn't make a profit.  Think of it this way.  Everyone eats bread, so, in effort to make sure Americans can get affordable food, the government steps in and says that no loaves of bread can cost over 50 cents.  Bread companies, realizing that there is no longer any profit incentive to making bread, will simply stop making the stuff, make something else, or go out of business.    The goal was noble-cheap bread for all-but the result of the government action massive shortages of bread and most people not getting any.  We don't want that with gas.

Isn't it more simple that companies just want to make loads of money? The press makes these images of not enough oil coming to the U.S for the reason that the gas companies can raise their prices.