more on and question more on gasoline price history

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard O'Brien <robrien () paymentpathways com>
Date: August 31, 2005 9:13:38 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: RE: [IP] and question more on gasoline price history


Dave,
A partial answer to your question:  A proportional part of the gold is
ending up in the pockets of the largest credit-card issuing banks and  
the
largest payment processors.  Why does our cost of transacting (charges
traditionally paid by merchants and passed on to consumers embedded  
in the
street price) rise proportionally with the retail price of gasoline?   
Are
transaction risks greater when commodoties such as gasoline are  
purchased?
Is this a glimpse of a bottleneck monopoly in practise?   Safer and more
efficient payment systems will emerge and tip consumer behavior when  
today's
dominant payment infrastructure is understood to be a regressive tax on
those who rely on transportation to earn a living.

Who really pays for the 5% cash back on gasoline purchases recently  
offered
by Discover Card this summer?  The merchants?  The other consumers  
who pay
for gas with other credit cards?
Rick

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 6:26 PM
To: Ip Ip
Subject: [IP] and question more on gasoline price history


So where is the gold ending up with the rapid rise? Who is really
making the gold.

djf

Begin forwarded message:

From: Simon Higgs <simon () higgs com>
Date: August 30, 2005 5:51:13 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on gasoline price history


At 01:56 PM 8/30/2005, you wrote:

There's another factor driving the retail gas prices at the pumps. In
other parts of the country, prices are under the national average.
However, there is no incentive whatsoever for any petroleum company
to remain under the national average for any length of time. I have a
reliable source from a discount gas retailer who informs me that
their currently mandated retail practice is to blindly follow the
national average while it increases. What this does in practice is to
push the price of gas up from the bottom. Let's say that this chain
charges $2.25, when CNN announces that the national average is $2.30.
The chain will now put it's prices up to match the national average.
Which, of course, pushes up the national average and the whole thing
repeats as often as the market can bear it.

I'll throw in another "factor". I would hypothesis (I have no real
information to back this up other than a couple of road trips where I
noticed this happening) that mainly republican areas have cheap gas
and democratic areas have more expensive gas. Maybe overlaying the
red/blue/purple election return maps over maps of retail gas prices
will reveal something interesting for an anti-trust lawyer.

Simon



> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Jude Shavlik <shavlik () cs wisc edu>
> Date: August 30, 2005 1:06:26 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: [IP] gasoline price history
>
>
>
>
> > Despite the recent price rises of gasoline in the US, gas is still
> > cheap if you consider inflation
>
>
> Since increases in the price of oil are a big driver of inflation,
> isn't it a bit circular and misleading to then adjust gas prices for
> inflation?
>
> Does anyone know what fraction of inflation over the last N years can
> be attributed to the price of oil? It would be interesting to see a
> constant-dollars plot of historical gas prices
> corrected for the impact of oil prices on inflation.
>
>       Jude Shavlik
>       Computer Sciences Dept
>       Univ of Wisconsin - Madison
>
>
>
>
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Best Regards,

Simon Higgs



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