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> If the cost of electricity halves, will you start using twice as much electricity? Possibly since not all my cars are electric yet. You can also see this ha

> If the cost of electricity halves, will you start using twice as much electricity? Possibly since not all my cars are electric yet. You can also see this happening for other resources https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Making-the-Modern-World https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Making-the-Modern-World

vkou 9y ago
There's an obvious difference between various resources. If a cross-country airplane ticket cost $4000, instead of $400, air travel would be much less then 1/10th what it is now. A lot of people will fly somewhere for $400. Almost nobody will fly somewhere for $4000. On the other hand, if the price of that ticket dropped from $400 to $360, we wouldn't see a 10% increase in passenger volume. The set of people who will fly somewhere for $360, but won't for $400 is tiny. I posit that trucking is in the latter, rather then the former category. It's already cheap.
- chaostheory 9y ago
  > It's already cheap. I disagree. Given companies like Amazon, it is currently not cheap enough. I would argue that it will take longer before it's 'cheap'. The appetite for 'free shipping' is still growing and it's very different from the demand for airplane tickets. Kind of like with your electricity example, you're missing parts of the big picture.
  - vkou 9y ago
    What's not cheap is the last mile. We're talking about long-haul trucking, here.
    - chaostheory 9y ago
      For companies like Amazon and Walmart, there's no such thing as cheap enough especially when it's tied to shipping.
      - vkou 9y ago
        Of course you want to cut costs. But what percentage do trucking expenses make, of their overall sales receipts? Will their sales double if the cost of trucking drops by a third?
        chaostheory 9y ago
        in Walmart's case it would allow them to offer free shipping for even more items. For other companies it would allow them to offer free shipping or better terms for free shipping (i.e. you have to buy less to get it). Yes I could be wrong but I feel further lowering the costs of long distance trucking would help increase eccomerce sales for retailers which in turn would further increase demand for it

vkou 9y ago

There's an obvious difference between various resources. If a cross-country airplane ticket cost $4000, instead of $400, air travel would be much less then 1/10th what it is now. A lot of people will fly somewhere for $400. Almost nobody will fly somewhere for $4000. On the other hand, if the price of that ticket dropped from $400 to $360, we wouldn't see a 10% increase in passenger volume. The set of people who will fly somewhere for $360, but won't for $400 is tiny. I posit that trucking is in the latter, rather then the former category. It's already cheap.

chaostheory 9y ago
> It's already cheap. I disagree. Given companies like Amazon, it is currently not cheap enough. I would argue that it will take longer before it's 'cheap'. The appetite for 'free shipping' is still growing and it's very different from the demand for airplane tickets. Kind of like with your electricity example, you're missing parts of the big picture.
- vkou 9y ago
  What's not cheap is the last mile. We're talking about long-haul trucking, here.
  - chaostheory 9y ago
    For companies like Amazon and Walmart, there's no such thing as cheap enough especially when it's tied to shipping.
    - vkou 9y ago
      Of course you want to cut costs. But what percentage do trucking expenses make, of their overall sales receipts? Will their sales double if the cost of trucking drops by a third?
      - chaostheory 9y ago
        in Walmart's case it would allow them to offer free shipping for even more items. For other companies it would allow them to offer free shipping or better terms for free shipping (i.e. you have to buy less to get it). Yes I could be wrong but I feel further lowering the costs of long distance trucking would help increase eccomerce sales for retailers which in turn would further increase demand for it