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Cheesecat wrote:Why do people act surprised when gas prices rise, it's only going to get more expensive as the resource get more rare. Supply and demand.

The resource is getting more rare as we use it, but new technology is making available new sources that were previously unknown or thought to be unobtainable.

So the issue isn't "oil in the world," it's "available oil." Examples like the above that restrict access to oil are artificially curbing the supply of future oil, which helps to drive up prices.

If the US gov't said that it was going to start allowing drilling permits and new exploration, the price of oil would drop sharply, because the future price of oil would be expected to drop.

Witzkatz wrote:Aye. As someone from Germany, I find the gas prices here in America hilariously cheap, we pay at least double your price. The world doesn't collapse if that stuff gets a little bit more expensive.

That's because you're paying €1.22 per liter in taxes (over $6.50 per gallon). The US averages less than $0.50 per gallon in taxes.

Kilkrazy wrote:USA and Germany.

According to wikipedia, as of 2010, Germany had public debt of 78.8% of GDP, while the US was at 58.9%.

Looks like Germany needs to get with the program and drop their fuel taxes.