Gas Price Outrage!

[BigJon]

Where are the cries of outrage when fuel prices behave as a commodity and tumble into the basement? "Oh please George Bush and Congress, please regulate oil so I can continue to enjoy high gas and heating oil prices. My natural gas prices are too low too; can you do something legislatively so I have the pleasure of those high monthly bills again? I really hate saving money."

Sounds just as ridiculous as the idiots and hypocrites who cry when commodity prices are on the way up. Here's an overly optimistic article to warm your hearts.

[Shapley]

Overly optimistic? Perhaps. But gas prices here in Cape Girardeau are below $2/gal. again.

Conspiracy theorists are convinced the drop in prices are designed to ward off the introduction of alternative fuel sources, or to get Republicans re-elected.

V/R
Shapley

[Catmando]

Gas prices have dropped over here in Winnipeg also. Under the "loonie" per liter price.

[Shapley]

What's a 'loonie'? Is that a dollar bill with the picture of a loon on it?

[Catmando]

What's a 'loonie'? Is that a dollar bill with the picture of a loon on it?

Yes, our dollar coin and our two dollar coin are affectionately known as "loonie" (because of the picture of the loon on it) and "twonie".

Alot of people, including myself, were annoyed when the Canadian government came up with this "brilliant" idea. Can make the wallet pretty heavy if you only have "small bills".

How would Americans feel about a change from paper money $1 and $2 to coins? I don't know if that would go over well! Actually, does the U.S. even have a two dollar bill?

[bignaf]

In the long run they'll rise. it's unsustainable. oil stinks.

[OperaTenor]

Yeah, down to $3 a gallon at Costco(the cheapest gas in town). They're practically giving it away!

[barfle]

How would Americans feel about a change from paper money $1 and $2 to coins? I don't know if that would go over well! Actually, does the U.S. even have a two dollar bill?

As the saying goes, the dollar is the new dime. We've had a few pretty pathetic attempts at releasing dollar coins (Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea). Both of them were about the same size as a quarter, which led to lots of confusion and a general dislike of the idea. Most people who want the public to use their wares actually try to find out what the public wants. Ahh, bureaucrats!

Yes, we do have a $2 bill, although I think there's only one left in circulation. It wasn't very popular, either. I remember there was an experiment that involved paying soldiers with $2 bills, so the locals could see both the value of having military people in town, and to get used to them. These things will probably be accepted within a century of the US adopting the metric system, though.

[barfle]

Yeah, down to $3 a gallon at Costco(the cheapest gas in town). They're practically giving it away!

I saw $2.61 today. And somehow I think that's good news.

[Catmando]

Thanks Barfle. I went down to North Dakota a little over a year ago, and i don't think I ever got a $2 bill. I have some American money left over from that weekend trip, alot of $1 bills !

[Shapley]

The $2 bill is still around, I received about 6 of them in change a month or so ago, but they still aren't popular.

The $1 coins still in circulaiton include the Eisenhower Dollar (Larger and heavier than other US coins, and easily recongnizable as a dollar), the Susan B. Anthony Dollar (nicknamed the Carter Quarter, because it was released during his term, it was the same size as a quarter and thus easily confused with it, and was worth about a quarter during his term of office due the lowered value of the dollar), and the Sacawajea dollar (nicknamed the Wal-Mart Dollar because that was the first place it was issued). It is slightly larger than the quarter and gold coloured to avoid confusing the two - but still isn't very popular. You can get them as change in postage stamps vending machines but that is about the only place I ever find them available.

We haven't had a new 50 cent piece in years, either. The Kennedy Half Dollar is still in circulation, but remains rather rare. Most people would rather carry two quarters than a half-dollar. Most people stick them in the coin jar when they get one in change.

They cost a lot less to mint than paper money does to print, which is why the government keeps trying to push them. They thought that the ability to use them in vending machines would be a big seller, but the vending machine operators developed machines that take bills, so that selling point was lost as well.

So far, the $1 bill is the only widely-circulated bill the government hasn't tinkered with the design of. We have new $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills, but the Washington Dollar is pretty well the same as it has been for years.

V/R
Shapley

[Catmando]

Ok, I don't want to hijack this thread anymore. I'm going to the "Pet Peeve" topic to rant some more about CDN money.

[barfle]

The $2 bill is still around, I received about 6 of them in change a month or so ago, but they still aren't popular.

The $1 coins still in circulaiton include the Eisenhower Dollar (Larger and heavier than other US coins, and easily recongnizable as a dollar), the Susan B. Anthony Dollar (nicknamed the Carter Quarter, because it was released during his term, it was the same size as a quarter and thus easily confused with it, and was worth about a quarter during his term of office due the lowered value of the dollar), and the Sacawajea dollar (nicknamed the Wal-Mart Dollar because that was the first place it was issued). It is slightly larger than the quarter and gold coloured to avoid confusing the two - but still isn't very popular. You can get them as change in postage stamps vending machines but that is about the only place I ever find them available.

We haven't had a new 50 cent piece in years, either. The Kennedy Half Dollar is still in circulation, but remains rather rare. Most people would rather carry two quarters than a half-dollar. Most people stick them in the coin jar when they get one in change.

They cost a lot less to mint than paper money does to print, which is why the government keeps trying to push them. They thought that the ability to use them in vending machines would be a big seller, but the vending machine operators developed machines that take bills, so that selling point was lost as well.

So far, the $1 bill is the only widely-circulated bill the government has tinkered with the design of. We have new $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills, but the Washington Dollar is pretty well the same as it has been for years.

V/R
Shapley

That's a lot more $2 bills than I thought were around.

I don't recall any coins ever being removed from circulation - or more specifically not being legal tender after they were valid. "Silver" dollars were more popular when I was a kid than they are now, but even then they were fairly unusual, except in Las Vegas.

I don't believe I've seen any significant changes in the $1 bill since it became a Federal Reserve Note instead of a Silver Certificate. The autographs change fairly often (being political appointees), but that's about it. The new tan ten almost looks Canadian - it definitely has a different hue to it than the old familiar greenbacks we've had all my life.

[Haggis@wk]

$2.27 this morning in Plano, TX

The changing greenbacks is a very delicate an interesting experiment for one very important reason.

Every printed bill or minted coin ever issued by the U.S. Govt is still legal tender.

I can't think of another currency that can make that claim. Heck when I lived in England in the late 70's - early 80's changed currency at least once and I think they've done that again.

I can’t even recall how many times various countries in Europe have change their currency although one presumes that the Euro is the last change

(Ed. “Right I got a fiver that the Euro won’t last 10 years….”

No bet)

Because of that the U.S. gets a really big unofficial loan from the rest of the world that's worth (I'm guessing) 10's if not hundreds of billions of dollars; because all those hoarders around the world are keeping that cash in the mattresses.

That was one of the biggest reason it took so long for the U.S. to issue new currency, the powers that be were afraid all those hoarders would be afraid that the old bills wouldn’t be valid and rush to cash them in.

[jamiebk]

Yeah, down to $3 a gallon at Costco(the cheapest gas in town). They're practically giving it away!

Out here in CA, gas is still out of sight. There has been some reduction of late, but we are still at the $2.80-$2.90 mark. A lot of our gas comes from Alaska...home of the, you guessed it, BP pipeline that "had" to be shutdown just as gas was dropping.

[BenODen]

I just had a thought about the unpopularity of the $2 bill and the coins worth more than a quarter. I think the popularity of money in the US is largely retail business driven. $2 bills or Sac dollars just aren't worth enough to have any function in an average person's life except as change for a purchase. And retailers are very happy with their current drawer setup. When bills over $20 come in, they get shoved under the drawer because there aren't enough slots for bills other than 1 5 10 20. Additionally there aren't enough bins for coins to add in dollar coins, are there? So, I suspect the 'failure' of these two denomenations has more to do with consumer ambivalence and resistance to change on the part of retailers than anything else...

[Haggis@wk]

BenODen

I think you're basically correct. I've seen only a handful of vending machines in the U.S. that takes or dispenses dollar coins. Most people don’t realize that the SBA and Sac dollar coins are the exact same shape, just the color of the Sac makes it seem, bigger, heavier.

I think it’s ironic that many people hated the SBA coin because it was too similar to the quarter and didn’t use them. Now most people think the Sac dollars are cool and want to keep them; achieving the same unintended consequence as the SBA.

[Haggis@wk]

Here's an "elevator debate" about the pros and cons of nuclear energy, which we derive 20% of our power from now.

I'm willing to listen to both sides in this issue until I start hearing "alternative" sources bandied about as if they were viable alternatives and then that usually shuts me off.

Until cold fusion becomes a reality we’re stuck with petroleum, coal or nuclear as our primary energy sources. You can play with wind or solar if you live in the middle of a windy desert but that’s about it.

[jamiebk]

Yeah, down to $3 a gallon at Costco(the cheapest gas in town). They're practically giving it away!

Out here in CA, gas is still out of sight. There has been some reduction of late, but we are still at the $2.80-$2.90 mark. A lot of our gas comes from Alaska...home of the, you guessed it, BP pipeline that "had" to be shutdown just as gas was dropping.

Sorry...I thought this was a thread on gas prices. Should be change the subject caption? We seemed to get off the track with all the discussion on currency etc.

[barfle]

I have concerns about nukes - that simply means that, in my mind, questions remain unanswered.

Uranium to fuel the plants is mined. How much do those mines pollute?

The uranium ore has to be processed to processed. What are the environmental considerations of that process?

The plants produce radioactuve waste. How is that waste handled?

The plants produce a lot of excess heat that is usually dumped into a body of water or into the air through a cooling tower. What are the environmental effects of those techniques?

There are people who know the answers to these questions, and I suspect the answers to them are changing as the technology advances. Or are they? Is the technology advancing? Have the scare-mongers shut down the nuclear power plant business?

Haggis's debate on the topic didn't really answer those questions.