[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by Trailnut

Wonder how tough it would be to convert a gas engine over to natural gas??? I know they do it for work trucks.

It's not....'hard'....but you'd need a unique computer calibration in addition to other things like a gas-based fueling system...and then power would be significantly decreased in addition to range.

Natural gas is nice because not everyone uses it.....but it's no better than gasoline in the long run. We only have so much...

Originally Posted by a_Username

Speculating is part of every industry and of every action, so if this were indeed the case then we would always have recessions.

We do, do we not? Part of the speculating/risk-taking nature of our economy is a cycle of dips and rises. Um.........just like the Camaro and Mustang sales? (I've got to relate it somehow....)

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

We do, do we not? Part of the speculating/risk-taking nature of our economy is a cycle of dips and rises. Um.........just like the Camaro and Mustang sales? (I've got to relate it somehow....)

Just LMK if this post is too political and I'll delete it.

As I said before, speculation about the future is tied to market economies but the difference lies in the origin of speculation. Speculation financed by genuine savings is totally different from speculation financed by false, fiduciary money. The start of boom-bust cycle is inherently tied to central banking hierarchies. It is they, central banks or state charted banks, that start unrealistic credit expansion which inevitably leads to distorted capital investment. During the boom, these investments lead to speculative pricing that will continually go up until the previous loans acquired by investors have revealed their true market rate, which is usually a fraction of what was originally thought; it is this moment that the financial crisis begins. The recession, or bust, begins when the market reveals that the investments, as a result of the falsely valued loans, are unprofitable. Consequently, the bust can be very long and painful but necessary. The problem with most economists today is that they believe the problem is the bust and not the boom; they believe you can have your cake and eat it too.

In summary, this isn't some inherent instability of the market economy but the result of a broke banking system.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Not too political...but definitely off-topic. Shall we continue this in PMs?

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

Not too political...but definitely off-topic. Shall we continue this in PMs?

Meh. If you wanna.

[KeepItGreasey]

Originally Posted by truth411

But demand is going up, China and India are a big part of that by my understanding.

That's what they want you to believe.

But maybe I should be more concise...

Has the demand really increased enough to warrant $4.50+ prices in recent times?

Demand only has an affect on the price if the supply CANNOT be increased to meet it... and we're not running out.

Originally Posted by a_Username

It's not impossible, but it does require a lot of willpower to do so.

Willpower? I think not. It demands physical ability to either ride a bicycle or walk everywhere they go. And keep in mind that EVERYTHING that you buy is transported by oil, and the electricity we use is often produced by burning oil. And you can't forget that plastic is made from a by product of the oil refining industry.

Are you willing to live the life of the Amish? - And not these Amish hipsters driving around in their Escalades.

[Captain Awesome]

Originally Posted by Trailnut

High prices = we can thank the Speculators for that.

Wonder how tough it would be to convert a gas engine over to natural gas??? I know they do it for work trucks.

I didn't realize that we changed the name of them beaurocrats to "speculators".

Good to know.

[a_Username]

Originally Posted by KeepItGreasey

That's what they want you to believe.

But maybe I should be more concise...

Has the demand really increased enough to warrant $4.50+ prices in recent times?

Demand only has an affect on the price if the supply CANNOT be increased to meet it... and we're not running out.

Umm, do you think that Oil randomly jumps into naturally made barrels and BP or Shell comes by and picks them up?

Willpower? I think not. It demands physical ability to either ride a bicycle or walk everywhere they go. And keep in mind that EVERYTHING that you buy is transported by oil, and the electricity we use is often produced by burning oil. And you can't forget that plastic is made from a by product of the oil refining industry.

Are you willing to live the life of the Amish? - And not these Amish hipsters driving around in their Escalades.

The price of oil can be attributed to many things besides supply or demand; most of these attributes are topics that can not be discussed on this particular forum. Regardless, if it gets bad enough then you'll see entrepreneurs who offer new goods in substitution of oil; this has already been happening... Volt anybody?