Well, looking back at the economy of the last 2 years, we've seen continued job growth and a low 5.0% unemployment rate, which is just about as good as it ever gets, really. Obviously lower prices are better, but we're not as oil-driven as we used to be. I'm sure there's a ton of us that - if needed - could work from home if our companies would permit us. My last job I worked 100% from home and there's no reason I couldn't do the same for my current job except for the fact my current company is extremely conservative and doesn't currently permit it. As prices rise more and more, that should push acceptance of WFH which will reduce traffic congestion, polution, and demand for gasoline.

 

Bare bones numbers like that are misleading. It was only in May that this recovery's created jobs turned positive. It tooks 50 months to gain 0.03% private sector employment growth. That's over twice as long as the post World War II recovery average of 23.

Looking at what jobs are actually being created is the most disturbing thing. Last month 13% of the jobs were government jobs and of the private sector ones, 98% are involved in the domestic service industry. Most of which aren't exactly high paying, because they are low productivity domestic service jobs. In fact, half are food servers or retail workers. We're employing people to serve us food, sell things, or move things around. Those jobs aren't producing goods or services which will help lower the deficits. This type of job composition has been typical of the last few years.

As far as the unemployment numbers go, I'd just like to say a few things. The numbers do not include people not "actively" looking for jobs. The senior economist at the Boston Fed stated that adding those people "would raise the unemployment rate by one to three-plus percentage points." Perhaps those people having given up looking for a job because the ones they had hoped to find no longer exist. If only they'd chose to take a job that requires one hour of work a week. That way the BLS would count them as fully employed in their numbers. For those of us still employed, last year real wages fell at the fastest rate in 14 years. Existing workers were unable to negotiate raises to keep up with the cost of living.

Instead of being oil driven, we seem to be debt driven now. Our recovery has been made by consumer borrowing and spending. We're seeing growth in consumption without matching growth in production. It's a dead end but those kindly foreign creditors continue to lend us $2 billion a day to cover our deficits. In perespective, at $50 a barrel for oil, our imported oil "only" costs us $600 million a day. I'm much more concerned with the fate of the dollar as the world's reserve currency and it's role as the "petro-dollar".

 

Well, you can thank the fact that 10% of the workforce is illegals, if you wanted to get real picky, but since they're undocumented to begin with, it's a lot harder to prove their negative effect on the quality of jobs now available in the USA, especially in border states.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/29/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes
An estimated 633,000 barrels of daily crude oil production, 42 percent of the daily average output from the Gulf Coast, was halted as of Sunday because of Katrina.
At least eight refineries with a combined capacity of 1.8 million bpd were also shut down, according to operators.

The U.S. government loaned, or "exchanged," some 5.4 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve last year following supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Ivan.

Democrats on Monday renewed their calls for the administration to tap the reserve as crude oil futures hovered near $70 a barrel.

"Skyrocketing gas prices have tipped consumers upside down this summer and to protect our economy, the president should act immediately to tap the SPR," Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said.

Crude oil prices soared on worries that Hurricane Katrina would disrupt the already delicate balance between U.S. gasoline supply and demand. In overnight trading, crude oil futures for October delivery set a record high of $70.80 a barrel.

The government stockpile consists of more than 700 million barrels of crude oil stored in underground salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNN

Ted Falgout, port director, port of Fourchon -- a key oil and gas hub 60 miles south of New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico. The focus: How will the storm impact oil/gas prices and infrastructure?

Think we are about to see American interest in hybrids escalate...

 

Hopefully people will cut down on the amount of driving they do, although that's hard to imagine.

 

It would surprise me too. Everyone seems to complain about the price of gas these days -- but I have a very hard time finding people who actually do anything about it (like modify their driving habbits and/or consolidate trips so they drive less often, etc.).

<rant_mode>

I'm just in shock everytime I'm near a full-sized SUV on the road who, for some strange reason, decides he just HAS to get around the next car ahead even though the next traffic light is still red and he'll have to slam on the brakes for it anyway. These people put the pedal down like they think they're driving a racecar, exhaust spewing out the tailpipes as the engine strains to overcome the inertia of their vehicle's mass tonnage, and then slam ont he brakes to stop in time for the light... all to make it around just a single car.

What I'm wondering is:

a) Are these people honestly that dumb that they don't believe that their driving habbits can actually have an effect on their fuel economy?

or

b) Is the cost of fuel still just WAY too cheap and we need to pass $10/gallon before they'll learn to drive a little easier or less often.

</rant_mode>

 

Both (a) and (b) plus the advertising and macho culture that comes with the monster SUVs gets people into these modes of driving where saving 8 seconds (the average amount of time you save by passing a single vehicle) MUST be done to maintain your superiority on the road.

 

It's not just SUVs it's alot of people even in small cars.Kevin

 

Hi Texashchman:

___It isn’t just small cars either … I see plenty of Prius I’s, II’s, and HCH’s in the far left lanes buzzing along at 70 + in the 55 and 65 mph zones here near Chicago as well

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net