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To put this into perspective, the reason your gas costs so much is that Sweden/Germany/other European countries have incredibly high gas taxes. The supply of o
by unexpected 15y ago
To put this into perspective, the reason your gas costs so much is that Sweden/Germany/other European countries have incredibly high gas taxes.
The supply of oil and gas is pretty smooth - Nearly every country pays the same price (with some obvious exceptions - islands, etc.) The reason prices vary so much across US States and Euro countries are taxes placed on the government. If the production costs are really $5 a gallon, the expect to pay $12-$13 at the pump, if Sweden decides to level the same amount of gas taxes.
- narag 15y agoAnd the reason for high taxes is said to be to compensate for the commercial disbalance. So high taxes wouldn't be needed if gas could be produced locally.
- tokenadult 15y agoAnd the reason for high taxes is said to be to compensate for the commercial disbalance. A counterexample to that is Norway, which has abundant domestic supplies of petroleum but still taxes gasoline heavily. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax#Norway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_tax#Norway
- lukeschlather 15y agoActually I think that's just the other side of the coin. While most of Europe has recognized that the public is better off levying heavy taxes to discourage expensive imports, Norway levies heavy taxes to allow for greater quantity of expensive exports. The net effect on society in both cases is positive.
- gnosis 15y agoI don't get it. Why couldn't Norway export oil expensively, and yet make gas cheap domestically? Isn't that what many states in the Persian Gulf do?
- lukeschlather 15y agoWhy is cheap gas a good thing? Cars are far less safe than the alternatives, and also generally speaking result in less exercise. So on two different fronts, you have overall more death and injury resulting to society from cheap gas, while more expensive gas pushes people on to safer transit like trains, and encourages people to walk improving overall health. Minimizing time people spend driving in cars is a good thing.
- JoeAltmaier 15y agoIs there evidence that folks really do use mass transit? Or just drive less? or just pay and complain?
- gnosis 15y agoI never meant to imply that cheap gas must be a good thing. I just didn't see the supposedly necessary connection between expensive oil exports and expensive domestic gas prices.