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US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

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Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#101

Post by danbruc »

seb1204 wrote: post #98
danbruc wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A basic income does not really change the amount of money people have available. You exchange paying some amount of taxes and handing the money to people qualifying for government benefits for paying more taxes and handing out money to everyone. You may save some money on the bureaucracy for figuring out who is eligible for how much benefits, you may make life easier for people having to apply for benefits, but you a…

Especially on the low income side that is often linked with job insecurity a basic income can relieve stress and pressure on people.

I am not disputing that a basic income may make peoples' lives easier, my point is just that a basic income does - to a first approximation - not provide additional money.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#102

Post by disgruntledphd2 »

epolanski wrote: post #70
disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And it doesn't help most of our economies are all export economies, The worst part of all this is that becoming more export focused was pushed heavily by Germany during the euro crisis, and now its causing more problems. Honestly, I'm coming round to the notion that Angela Merkel was literally wrong on everything she ever touched. Mind you, German political culture consistently makes the wrong decisions (basically…

> Honestly, I'm coming round to the notion that Angela Merkel was literally wrong on everything she ever touched. In a world where the Russo-Ukrainian conflict doesn't happen she was fine. In a world where it does, suddenly an export economy hungry for materials and energy suffers the lack of Russia.

> In a world where the Russo-Ukrainian conflict doesn't happen she was fine.

The German (so not just her) position on the post financial crisis reforms were wildly misguided, and her taking in of Syrian immigrants also didn't end well.

I think that shutting down the nuclear plants would also have been recognised as a bad idea, even without the war.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#103

Post by the_why_of_y »

cpursley wrote: post #88
the_why_of_y wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Orange Man was elected in 2015. Europeans decided to construct Nord Stream 2 to completion (finished 2021, but never certified for operation). Nord Stream 1 was shut down by Russia in 2022. Turk Stream pipeline (from Russia to Bulgaria) finished construction/began operation in 2020.

Turk Stream goes to Turkey, original plans to Bulgarian were canceled.

Both of your statements are technically true (the cancelled pipeline was called South Stream).

Also true is that another pipeline called Balkan Stream connects to Turk Stream to transport the Russian gas into Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, and went into operation in 2021.

https://n1info.rs/english/news/balkan-stream-gas-pipeline-op...

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#104

Post by larodi »

LoganDark wrote: post #48
roryirvine wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More of a shock, if anything - the higher taxes in Europe act to damp price swings, so sudden rises like this hit America proportionately more.

I heard that a relative lack of air conditioners in the UK made the higher temperatures hit them proportionally more than the US too. In both cases my point is that of course it's shocking to suddenly hit circumstances you're unprepared for.

wonder how it is a shock, given all that leads to higher prices is in the news for everyone since March at least. will restrain myself for further geopolitical context, but you get my point. and, yeah, people in UK and most of EU also saw the heat (literally) coming for years... so the comparison is very apt indeed.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#105

Post by mcv »

spiclk wrote: post #97
mcv wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And high prices may also encourage alternatives. Energy can be replaced by renewables. There are alternatives for various uses of plastics. And I thought manure was a pretty good fertiliser. Not everything needs to be replaced, but it would help a lot if we replace what we can.

We're going to need a lot of EV trucks, to transport the ~2 billion tons of manure.

The manure already needs to be dealt with anyway. Does it really matter whether we're transporting oil or manure? Surplus manure is also causing environmental problems. Why are we using fertiliser if there's too much manure?

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#106

Post by ZeroGravitas »

surgical_fire wrote: post #95
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, but my specific comment applies to a large degree to every EU country individually and as a bloc, so you are splitting hairs pointlessly.

Then your comment is sort of pointless too. Unless you want to argue "every country in the world that does not produce enough oil and does not have enough refining capacity for said oil should electrify". Then singling out EU countries becomes silly.

I do argue that every oil importing country should electrify.

EU (collectively or independently) is distinct only in that it is ahead of the pack on many of these topics, hence why the Netherlands diesel price is higher than the US price, as noted by the comment I replied to.

But EU countries could and should still go further.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#107

Post by cogman10 »

spiclk wrote: post #62
mcv wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would prefer to stop the demand rather than the supply. The high prices encourage production elsewhere.

How do we stop the demand for plastics (and any other number of process chemicals) and fertiliser? Also - while it may encourage production at other sites with a higher cost of production, higher prices in general will slow demand.

Those are only a fraction of what oil becomes (around 10% total) everything else is burned.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#108

Post by epolanski »

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #102
epolanski wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Honestly, I'm coming round to the notion that Angela Merkel was literally wrong on everything she ever touched. In a world where the Russo-Ukrainian conflict doesn't happen she was fine. In a world where it does, suddenly an export economy hungry for materials and energy suffers the lack of Russia.

> In a world where the Russo-Ukrainian conflict doesn't happen she was fine. The German (so not just her) position on the post financial crisis reforms were wildly misguided, and her taking in of Syrian immigrants also didn't end well. I think that shutting down the nuclear plants would also have been recognised as a bad idea, even without the war.

> and her taking in of Syrian immigrants also didn't end well.

Syrian refugees.

They were escaping a civil war, they weren't looking for a job.

Most Germans supported taking the refugees as of 2015, less opposed it.

As for nuclear, Germany already had decided to phase it out before Merkel, in fact, her government partially reversed it. But Fukushima in 2011 was the nail in the coffin.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#109

Post by surgical_fire »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #106
surgical_fire wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then your comment is sort of pointless too. Unless you want to argue "every country in the world that does not produce enough oil and does not have enough refining capacity for said oil should electrify". Then singling out EU countries becomes silly.

I do argue that every oil importing country should electrify. EU (collectively or independently) is distinct only in that it is ahead of the pack on many of these topics, hence why the Netherlands diesel price is higher than the US price, as noted by the comment I replied to. But EU countries could and should still go further.

By all means, I don't disagree. I just have a policy of stressing the point that EU is not a country when people comment on it as of it had the powers of a national government.

In fact, as someone that lives in one of those countries, I am actually viewing the events in the middle east with optmism. The closure of Hormuz and Bab-el Mandeb are the sort of harsh push that we needed to get out of our collective asses and cut our dependency on a resource that is in every angle you look at terrible for those who depend on it.

I am not naive, and I know that it is not possible to cut it entirely (oil is used for more than fuel). But if we stop depending on it for vehicles, electricity generation, heating and ao on, it will make a huge difference already.

Re: US diesel hits record $6 a gallon on Iran supply shock

#110

Post by stockresearcher »

kotaKat wrote: post #83
mcv wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all of that is possible, why not just provide a reliable basic income? Why does it need to feel like a politician is bribing you for your vote?

(None of it was possible. We haven't gotten the purported DOGE dividend, or tarriff refunds. Though the $500 Obamacare 'refunds' are in the works and the soldiers all got some $1776 bonus... and everyone's suddenly privately funding the Trump accounts as a bribe to him, I guess.)

If you don't like calling them "Trump Accounts", you can call them 530A accounts (that's the "real" name). They're actually a really great thing. Aside from the free money being given to babies by rich folk, they enable any American family to do something for their kids that wealthy business owners have been doing but you can't.

Seriously, just call it a 530A and smile.

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