I Hope Gas Prices Go Up Very High

A higher price for fuel in America will not stop people from driving to work. Here in the UK, petrol is about $7.00 per US gallon (most of that is tax) but that does not stop people from driving to work nor companies delivering goods to the shops. Our standard of living is comparable to that of the USA and the cost of living, food for example, is also comparable. Pay levels are actually higher, for example our legal minimum wage is about twice what it is in the USA. (£5.52/$11.00 per hour. The minimum wage in the USA is currently $5.85 an hour, but that is due to rise to $6.55 in July of this year and to about $7.00 in 2009.) If American employers start paying people a decent wage, your economy might be in better shape.

I would want to see more "positive" and more reasonable reactions to high gas prices. Instead of investing so much into those two extra lanes, or that new highway... maybe some major investment in public transportation: *gasp* "Oh noes! Not buses and rail!" (/sarcasm, /disgust). But things like this need to be considered and should be implemented immediately (albeit the horses are already gone and we're just now seeing the open barn door). I do hope changes like this can occur since current transportation maintenance and expansion is incredibly expensive. A few parts of the US have staggered work schedules and weeks to mitigate traffic, and something like this could help ease the travel need of the workplace. The internet can also allow many people to work from home (though for some employers and employees the execution could be troubling). No matter what happens, the price of gasoline will continue upward (either by market, general increases, and/or falling currency). Due to the fact the society has built itself virtually around the car and has done little to nothing in mitigating this... the impact will be hard, and it will be felt by many. Gasoline at $4, $5, $6 a gallon... people still need to drive, to go to work, to get food, to take kids to school in some instances... for many households there are ZERO alternatives to this. If people still want their cars without a viable option, then that'll be that. Of course, the pinch and cuts that'll happen to other parts of their lives will be quite a sight too. In terms of goods and services, they'll go up (namely groceries) due to the increased cost of transportation. This too will bring a lot of households to their knees. I don't want the worst to happen at all, but the writing is already on the wall. I'm just calling what I see, read, hear and know. The next several years, I wonder how they'll go.

I thought that the price of petrol is determined by the Arab countries that produce it? However, the price of oil will certainly rise, as supply decreases. I think that if people are unable to go to work, and businesses fail and so on, it wouldn't work for anyone in the end. The workers will probably be poor after being unemployed for some time, and of course the price of everyday items would increase (since the fuel needed to transport the items would cost more) which would contribute to their lack of funds. So if fuel prices did drop, they may not even have a car to use the petrol on, it would also be difficult for them to get a job, since most of the businesses have disappeared. It would take a long time to get everything back to the way it was, and by that time, the fuel prices may have risen to prices even more expensive than before. So, I'd rather have gas prices NOT rise up very high.