Monday, September 22, 2008
gas station business ethical or not....
so i will make this short for my first post i dont want to put in too much thinking on this topic because its made me broke but, gas prices increased over $1 when hurricane ike hit even though the price of gas per barrel was still under 100$ and declining so is it right that gas stations can charge whatever they want even though their wholesale price of gas is going down. Its almost like a monopoly that gas stations can play because they know they we all have to pay whatever they say. i think the government needs to put in laws on how much gas stations can charge with whatever price the barrels their buying are, so that gas stations can not over charge us and rip us off.
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13 comments:
I definitely agree with your view on gas prices. I think they are absolutely ridiculous and the government should definitely put regulations and/or laws on how the amount of profit these businesses can take in by charging the public such high prices. I believe it is unethical for them to overcharge gas prices just becase they know they can and people will buy gas regardless of price.
I also agree with both of you guys. I understand the price of the barrel went up with the Hurricane Ike hitting the US, but for it to raise over a full dollar within 24 hours only puts our country in deeper depression than it is already in with the economy. Laws should be looked at for the future when a natural disaster hits again.
What do you think we should do? If we grant corporations rights and legal protection so that they can efficiently provide goods and services, we might consider the situation in one of these ways:
1. Transportation costs are a necessary public good. Profit-driven provision of gas results in profiteering, since Americans can't wait out high gas prices . . . although corporations can wait out resistant consumers. So, we should provide gas on a socialized model, like some other countries.
2. Transportation costs are a necessary public good. Profit-motive is necessary to keep the market working, but profits should be limited by the government to a certain percentage, say, pegged to crude oil prices.
3. Transportation costs are a necessary public good, and profit-motive will regulate costs properly if we keep the market working properly. We need to break up the giant oil companies in order to allow them to have less power in the marketplace, and be more subject to the forces of economic competition.
4. Transportation costs are a necessary public good, and the weight that large companies have in the market results in market inefficiencies through forms of price-gouging and de facto price-fixing. But still, any governmental regulation or intervention would just make things worse.
5. Market forces will determine whether gasoline costs are the most efficient way to meet our transportation needs. Gasoline prices ought to rise until they run into competition from alternate modes of transport. If we aren't willing to look into other ways to get to work, as a nation, in the mornings, then oil companies deserve whatever the market will support. The market will not find balance if we limit oil company profits.
What do you think about these perspectives?
I think transportation is necessary and no matter how high or low the price of gas is people are still going to buy it regardless. I agree with the second statement that says "Profit-motive is necessary to keep the market working, but profits should be limited by the government to a certain percentage, say, pegged to crude oil prices." If this were to happen, the price of gas would still increase a little becuase it is necessary to keep the market going, but it would not be able to reach an extreme rate like it is now. People would still be able to afford it, and gas would not have a huge affect on the economy.
There are other ways besides gas out there to be transported from one place to the next. Many cars are coming out in newer additions as hybrids, and now throughout the election and the economy itself, our country is considering putting oil tanks on US territory, therefore we wouldn't be buying it from other countries. I honestly think that is a bad idea, people are going to have to buy gas either way--and it isn't the only problem today in our economy. We are definitely going through a down period with many different issues.
I agree with Allie and Kelly. I think that there are plenty of alternatives to get where you need to be, however, I do feel that gasoline/transportation costs are a necessary public good. We need it regardless of how we get from place to place, even for something as simple as mowing the lawn. I definitely think the prices are too steep and have a part in the recession of our economy right now. I think there needs to be some sort of government regulation on prices, such as a price ceiling.
I actually think that drilling in Alaska would definitely help lower gas prices in the long run. By doing this we would not be relying on the Middle East for oil anymore. The US would be self sufficient on providing our own energy, and we would not be dependent on other countries for oil anymore.
I think drilling in Alaska would be a pretty good idea. Even though there are some disadvantages with that, the advantage would be that we wouldn't have to depend on other countries and prices for us wouldn't be so expensive and could maybe even help out our country by possibly getting out of the recession we are in.
The price of gas has decreased a lot since the rise in price from all of the hurricanes. This goes to show how flexible gas prices are and how they can easily change.
How about the gas prices now?! A friend of mine in Memphis paid $1.88 last weekend for gas! I don't feel like the economy hsa changed that much in the past month or so, why are gas prices suddenly declining so quickly?
I know its crazy! Gas around here is so much cheaper then it has been in a long time. I even talked to one of my friends who lives in California right near Hollywood and gas there now it only even $2.45 which is extremely cheap considering the location. Gas there not to long ago was over $4so price has pretty much dropped in half. I hope prices continue to drop and stay at this level for while!
I saw a gas sign for $1.77! That was about the price of gas when I started driving, which is nice! I haven't noticed a change in our economy since this has been happening, but hopefully with the new president, gas will continue at these prices and our economy will continue to get better!
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