Petem95

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4684844.stm

A barrel of crude is upto over $66 now, and rising. The highest it reached last year was just over $70, and thats when we saw a litre of fuel top £1 in a lot of places

I noticed this morning my local garage had raised unleaded by 2p.

Come at a bad time really - British Gas are about to announce a 25% hike in gas prices, and as a result electricity prices will be up again (because theres so many gas powered stations in the UK)

I think I'll be needing a pay rise to cover all these increasing outgoings!!

davegtt

Lets all blame the government though eh

25% hike in Gas? you sure? frig me, just payed about £200 this quarter for my gas, dont want about 25% on top of that. already expensive IMO, seems everything is going up except the incomings.

Petem95

Yup ; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4684108.stm

Apparently the wholesale price of gas has more than TRIPPLED in the last couple of years

imlach

All commodities are rising FAST.

I'm sure everyone could easily find a way to save at least 10% of their energy usage, so each of us could easily compensate to some degree as well.

ie :
- put on a jumper instead of turning up the heating
- turns the radiators down in rooms you rarely use
etc etc...could go on

imlach

..and you know what pay rises make? Yep, inflation.

...and you know what inflation makes? Yep, higher interest rates.

..and so your mortgage starts climbing fast

Oh, and higher interest rates also spark recessions....so you lose your job, your outgoings are high, and your incomings suddenly go to Z E R O!!!

Ah, happy times

TelBoy

Bring back Stalin, all is forgiven.

Petem95

Not when we have a Labour government with "Crash" Gordon in control of the economy.... seeing as theyve removed wage-inflation from the way inflation is calculated its nolonger a factor

I wouldnt be surprised if they removed fuel (petrol, gas, electricity) prices from the calculation too - after all theyre rocketing up, and it looks like a one way thing...

As a result they can keep our artificially low inflation figure just as low, so no need to raise interest rates. All the lemmings can then continue to borrow-borrow-borrow and consumer spending will keep the economy afloat just a bit longer!!

But when the pack of cards falls down, my god will it have a heavy landing

imlach

Not sure if any geeks will remember this, but there was a terrific program (<cough - geek!) on the BBC Micro which allowed you to simulate running the country.

It was amazing how quickly one could get the whole UK finances in a mess, and end up with rioting on the streets.

Must be a modern PC game equivalent?!

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

Dont think even Labour can be blamed for this one.

China and India need to be reminded just how good it is to ride their rickshaws and that electricity is not a good thing

_RIP_

Pensioners have being doing this for years, and they still die. Get real.

King RA

remember optimax is always that little bit more than the 'PETROL PRICES IN £1 SHOCKER!!' hehehe.

Brendan Hughes

imlach - wasn't that SimCity or the equivalent?


"Iosif Vissarionovich, prices of commodities are rising as the people keep buying them! What do we do?"

"Divide the population into three. Shoot the first third, and imprison the second to work to supply goods for the third."

"Iosif Vissarionovich, truly you are a great and wise leader!"

imlach

It is real for the majority of us non-pensioners. Most of us don't use energy as efficiently as we could.

Pensioners have already made the efficiency savings (and some go too far sadly).

imlach

On the BBC Micro, it was obviously about 10 years before SimCity, but perhaps there is a SimCity that does this on the PC? Does it allow you to set taxes, control policing numbers, etc etc?

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

I remember that game

2000TLondon

Over here in the US utility prices have apparently nearly doubled in a year!

I'm looking forward to my first summer of 24 x 7 maximum air con!

However, GASoline is a mere $2.50 a gallon. Filling up my 5.7 HEMI for about twenty quid, compared to 65 quid i was spending to fill up the impreza last summer.

Jeep was half price, too!

rossyboy

iTrader: (8)

I remember the game aswell. I think I managed to run the economy for about 5 years, but then it all went **** up

imlach

...yes, and therein lies the world's problems

2000TLondon

Absolutely!

There are now leaflets in all GASoline stations advising drivers how to drive efficiently, no sharp acceleration, try to drive around 55 or 56 mph when possible (the reason US speed limts were set at 55 was for economical pretol use after the oil crisis) read the road ahead to prevent having to reduce speed sharply etc etc

Nowhere does it say have the government build pavements (it is almost impossible to walk anywhere, even to our local store there are no pavements, you take your life in your hands and drivers shout "Get a job, ya bum!" as they speed past!) provide public transport, or stop selling 6 litre trucks to EVERYONE!

druddle

Solar power is the future. You can get these new tube panels that will absorb and then you can store enough power for gas and central heating systems. I am going to look into it....

Dave

scoobynutta555

Does anyone else find it ironic that speed limits in the US are 55 to get maximum mpg, yet amongst the best selling vehicles in the US are circa 5 MPG SUVs?

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

i find it 'sureal'

bigsinky

what do you mean set to rise to £1 per litre. i paid 101.9p last night in the greater belfast area

SimonGawthorpe

Wonder what effect all this is going to have on our greatly over-priced housing market?

Simon

unclebuck

Has anyone ever seen drivers on US freeways stick to the speed limits?

Everyone drives like maniacs over there.

2000TLondon

absolutely, I'm getting about 14 miles to the gallon. The Chevy suburban is amongst the best selling SUV's out here and is the size of a large mini-bus! If that gets more than 8mpg I'd be very surprised!

Diesel is unheard of. All the manufacturers are trying to sell their cars on good MPG, but that just means the Chevy has to have slightly better MPG than the Ford. Mazda, Honda and Toyota obviously have it spot on, but the American manufaturers boast about 15MPG!

scoobynutta555

There's a gap in the market for the Gatso Gestapo over here to export our cash machines out there then

2000TLondon

On the highway it's pretty much a free for all. On the suburban dual carriageways though everyone sits at 55 religiously, and it's very frustrating when you're behind them with five miles of empty road ahead! Highway speed limits are between 60 and 70 generally. I have yet to see people doing over 100 as you would on the M4, though.

scoobynutta555

I like a moan about the high prices over here for fuel, yet I think that fuel prices in the US are too cheap! With very cheap prices, there doesn't seem much incentive for consumers to switch to smaller more efficient cars, or for manufacturers to produce them. Isn't the US now a net fuel importer? Seems crazy that 15 mpg seems an efficient figure for fuel economy in the US.

After all conventional fuel is not limitless and there will come a time when the well will dry up.

Notwithstanding environmental concerns (US responsible for 25 % of world pollution), the policy on the Middle East etc may have been vastly different if the present and past governments were more openminded on the issues.

Any opinions on Bush's state of the union address this year when he raised the profile of such issues, or was it waffle?

Brendan Hughes

But a quick question - surely that's per US gallon, which is more like 6 pints rather than 8?

I know it's a bit academic, but in UK terms using a UK gallon increases your economy figures by 33%, no? So you're getting, erm, 17-18mpg in our terms?

(Still stupidly low, but not quite as stupidly low as previously )