And Now there are 10 things....

I liked this article in Time...it was sort of a Freakenomics, unintended consequences look at the rising price of gas.

From my economic background, the one i found the most interesting was the story told in #2. The article doesn't quite say it in these terms, so let me explain a bit.

Over the past 50-100 years, growth in technology has changed economic models in many ways, put in one particularly important one: the cost of transporting a good became nil, negligible. There used to be expediency costs, or costs of storage on a boat so it could be shipped down river, paying the handler...all those things still exist today, but the efficiency of technology ensures that the price of transportation is so low, we don't factor it into our business and economic models.

But with $4 soon to be $5 probably soon to be $6 gas, this assumption will no longer hold true. It sucks, but its sorta fascinating that we have to regress to an earlier economic model.

oh! and i've been wanting to say this for a while...for all those idiots who say we need to drill in ANWAR or off-shore right now so we can lower gas price, quite whining and SHUT UP! at best, in a generation (the year 2028) if we opened all areas to drilling, the price of gas would be lowered by a whopping...10 cents. Meanwhile, we'd spend billions building the drilling apparatuses, prolong our addiciton to oil, and not do anything for short term relief.

And if you don't believe me, just ask, and i'll find the relavent articles and studies for you.

~M