Fuel Prices

[mryaris]

OK.....I crunched the numbers using minimum wage instead of median income. As expected the percentages are higher and the fluctuations greater, but again, aside from the spike in 1980 & again in 2005 the numbers are pretty consistant.

Here's the breakdown for my chart:

Year/hourly minimum wage/price of gal of gas/ratio of gal per hour

1960/$1.00/$0.31/31.0%
1965/$1.25/$0.31/24.8%
1970/$1.60/$0.36/22.5%
1975/$2.10/$0.57/27.1%
1980/$3.10/$1.25/40.3%
1985/$3.35/$1.20/35.8%
1990/$3.80/$1.16/30.5%
1995/$4.25/$1.15/27.0%
2000/$5.15/$1.52/29.5%
2005/$5.15/$2.48/48.1%
2010/$7.25/$2.72/37.5%


It's harder to quantify, but it looks like generally speaking, we have always paid about 35% of our hourly minimum wage on a gallon of gas. I should probably do each and every year to get a clearer picture.....this one has too many fluctuations to do every 5-years (but I wanted an apples to apples comparo).

[vwtech]

Originally Posted by mryaris

OK.....I crunched the numbers using minimum wage instead of median income. As expected the percentages are higher and the fluctuations greater, but again, aside from the spike in 1980 & again in 2005 the numbers are pretty consistant.

Here's the breakdown for my chart:

Year/hourly minimum wage/price of gal of gas/ratio of gal per hour

1960/$1.00/$0.31/31.0%
1965/$1.25/$0.31/24.8%
1970/$1.60/$0.36/22.5%
1975/$2.10/$0.57/27.1%
1980/$3.10/$1.25/40.3%
1985/$3.35/$1.20/35.8%
1990/$3.80/$1.16/30.5%
1995/$4.25/$1.15/27.0%
2000/$5.15/$1.52/29.5%
2005/$5.15/$2.48/48.1%
2010/$7.25/$2.72/37.5%


It's harder to quantify, but it looks like generally speaking, we have always paid about 35% of our hourly minimum wage on a gallon of gas. I should probably do each and every year to get a clearer picture.....this one has too many fluctuations to do every 5-years (but I wanted an apples to apples comparo).

cars have gotten alot more efficient though a car in the 60's probably got an average of 10mpg. we are spending 7% more per gallon but our cars are getting 30 more mpg than cars from the 60's.

[fmicle]

It's funny to me how people complain about $2.50 a gallon for gas. Let's see, a Grande something at Starbucks would cost about $4 , that's 16 oz. It's 8 times that in a gallon, so that makes $32 for a gallon of boiling water run through some ground beans... I haven't heard anyone complaining about that or blaming the government...

Why do people think they are entitled to cheap gas? Ferrchrissake, gas is cheaper than most drinking water at Safeway!!!

[fmicle]

^ +1,000,000. The numbers speak for themselves.

Oh, and by the way, Big Oil pays a lot of taxes alright... just not in the US... at least not the biggest chunk...

[chrisj]

I just think that everyone needs to conserve, whether it be for economic reasons or just because we shouldn't waste ever drop of everything just because we can. That's why everyone should drive a Yaris! :)

[vwtech]

fuel prices in the us are some of the cheapest in the world but people still complain about it. I spend 25 a week on gas and my commute is 32 miles ONE way which is double what most people drive so I dont see how you complain about spending less than 20 dollars a week on fuel.

[Black Yaris]

Blah, blah blah.... you can rant and rave, crunch #'s all you want.... you can do nothing about gas prices. just deal with it

[vwtech]

I love it when poeple complain about cigarette prices.

[Black Yaris]

Originally Posted by vwtech

I love it when poeple complain about cigarette prices.

kinda like bitchin about fuel prices..... if you think the prices are so bad, stop buying

[henry33]

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

kinda like bitchin about fuel prices..... if you think the prices are so bad, stop buying

that is right I quit smoking since the price went up again and I am not willing to pay for something that hurt me so much

I wan to react that in Europe we have to pay taxes. as someone said all countries have deficit and governments try to decrease it by taxing everything. The same happen in Slovakia but in comparison with other countries the road tax is not so horrible. I just do not understand where US government takes money (you do not have taxes on roads and gas etc) when you spend so much on wars (huge amount of money). Just curious I do not want to talk about the war whether it is right or wrong.

[why?]

Originally Posted by vwtech

I love it when poeple complain about cigarette prices.

i love it when politicians tax cigarettes higher, then complain that they don't get enough tax money for cigarettes, yet they still all make sure everyone says how bad cigarette smoking is for you.

Originally Posted by Black Yaris

kinda like bitchin about fuel prices..... if you think the prices are so bad, stop buying

yea, like that is really an option. That is like saying," you don't like breathing, so just stop breathing." not really a practical solution.

Originally Posted by henry33

that is right I quit smoking since the price went up again and I am not willing to pay for something that hurt me so much

I wan to react that in Europe we have to pay taxes. as someone said all countries have deficit and governments try to decrease it by taxing everything. The same happen in Slovakia but in comparison with other countries the road tax is not so horrible. I just do not understand where US government takes money (you do not have taxes on roads and gas etc) when you spend so much on wars (huge amount of money). Just curious I do not want to talk about the war whether it is right or wrong.

US taxes are mostly income taxes. There are gas taxes, real estate taxes, and there are also taxes that we don't see, and that a lot of people don't know about, but we pay anyways.

[fmicle]

Originally Posted by henry33

that is right I quit smoking since the price went up again and I am not willing to pay for something that hurt me so much

I wan to react that in Europe we have to pay taxes. as someone said all countries have deficit and governments try to decrease it by taxing everything. The same happen in Slovakia but in comparison with other countries the road tax is not so horrible. I just do not understand where US government takes money (you do not have taxes on roads and gas etc) when you spend so much on wars (huge amount of money). Just curious I do not want to talk about the war whether it is right or wrong.

It's a little bit of a different mind set here. The government is not meant to "feed" the people, as it is the tradition in Easter Europe, where the government is expected to take care of everything, from providing jobs to welfare, to pensions, to free education and so on.

Here you get just some basic services and then you're on your own. Taxes are lower, sometimes much lower than some European countries, you get to keep more of you heard earned money, but you're also expected to look after yourself more. If your house burns down, don't come crying to the government, you had better be insured.

That's the basic idea, the devil is in the details, of course

As for, where the war money is coming from? Well, it's complicated... Read about the "Bretton Woods System" and reserve currencies. The US is in a privileged situation because of the role of the US dollar in the world and can get away doing things other countries (especially smaller countries) can't.

[chrisj]

Isn't that why we bought Yaris' in the first place? So we wouldn't have to buy so much gas! Like I said before, I don't care how high gas prices go, because the higher they are, the less people who are on the roads. Good enough. Well, Yaris' will be on the road. ;)

[henry33]

so we have to moved to US :) if it would be easier I will do so ;)

[fmicle]

^ LOL, I am from Romania and before 1989, during Ceausescu's regime, there was a joke all over the country, because people wanted to leave so badly: they used to say, the last one to leave the country should turn off the lights. That was a hint at the draconian energy conservation policies that were being practiced in Romania in the 80's. From our perspective, countries like Slovakia were paradise

Did you ever have to show your ID card to get your ration of butter, oil and sugar?

[henry33]

ok I do not remember the times before 1989 since I was 4 but the Communism was also here. yeah we were unlucky to be in the east block after world war second :( look at the countries like spain and italy etc if they were under Communism for such a long time it would be the same.
now the situation is good in Slovakia I can't complain (of course there are better places to live) but this is y homeland. and before crisis we were the fast growing economy in Europe :)
but I haven't shown ID to buy a oil or sugar ;)

[fnkngrv]

i miss 99 cent gas

[STC]

Originally Posted by fnkngrv

i miss 99 cent gas

So do I! Last time I bought gas for under a dollar was 1998 in Altoona, PA. There was a price war between two mom and pop gas stations. One station got down to 92 cents!

Cheers!