Big is back. Light trucks (pickups, SUVs, etc) outsold cars by 100,000 in the month of November—sales were up 10% from the same period in 2013 while car sales were up just 1%. Oh, and gasoline prices have been sliding all year. Coincidence? Don’t think so.
And gas prices may have some distance to fall, even if crude oil prices stop their descent: Crude is down nearly 40% from its 2013 average while gasoline prices have dropped only about 25%.
Don’t you love the low gas prices? Filled my little car’s tank for under $30 for the first time in, oh, forever. Actually, it only feels that way. Today’s prices are roughly where they were in 2010. Isn’t it interesting how quickly we adjust to new prices? Read more »
Economists love taxes. At least, we love the right kind of taxes, those that discourage bad actions and encourage good ones. Tobacco taxes, for example, make smoking a habit that hurts your pocketbook as well as your lungs. Evidence suggests that teens smoke less just because it has become so darned expensive. Hear, hear!
A “carbon tax” is one of the good taxes. If you accept any one of the following propositions – a)human activity has precipitated global warming, b)human activity hasn’t done so in the past, but it might in the future and this would be a bad thing, OR c) fossil fuel imports put money in the pockets of unstable nations and the world would be a safer place if we used less – then you should support a carbon tax. (If you don’t accept any of the above conditions, it is time to turn the page.)
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Big is back. Light trucks (pickups, SUVs, etc) outsold cars by 100,000 in the month of November—sales were up 10% from the same period in 2013 while car sales were up just 1%. Oh, and gasoline prices have been sliding all year. Coincidence? Don’t think so.
Don’t you love the low gas prices? Filled my little car’s tank for under $30 for the first time in, oh, forever. Actually, it only feels that way. Today’s prices are roughly where they were in 2010. Isn’t it interesting how quickly we adjust to new prices? Read more »