An article in the 02 July 2014 Provo Daily Herald highlights the Provo City Council's deliberations on the use and business of independently operated Food Trucks in the downtown area. Many local brick and mortar restaurant owners are objecting to the food trucks parking in the downtown area, and are, essentially, afraid of the competition [for consumer dollars] that these food trucks bring. The B&M owners are actually asking the city council to ban food trucks from the business district of Provo, thereby stifling completion for consumer dollars.
Here's my reply:
"As much as the local restaurant owners don't like the hits to their business, the consumers have the real say in this because they will always go to what sounds good at any given time. Restaurants, by nature of the business, go through many waves of customer use from day to day. Like any competition, if business opens close to a competitor, the original store will take a hit, with consumers sampling the new product. Over time, the original store will see its business rebound, while the new business will lose some customers, and back and forth. It's called Free Market, and as much as competition to a store sucks, it is the very nature any business.
If the owners of the brick and mortar restaurants are taking big, sustained losses, then maybe they need to step up their game and produce better offerings, or diversify their menus in order to compete. After all, how many consumers even want to eat the same foods day after day? Not many.
Consumers WANT variety in their meals. These owners need to stop telling other business owners that they can't make any money simply because the competition for consumer dollars to too challenging for the B&M owners to overcome. Stop whining and step up to the challenge; or, get out of the game."
In the days since my reply was made, not one single comment referred to my opinion on the matter. No one.
I get the concerns of these business owners; but edging out your completion through political maneuvering is just wrong...ethically and morally. I hope the Provo City Council simply stand their ground and tells the B&M owners, "No." Free Market practices will dictate the success or failure of these restaurants. Stifling any competition through legislation simply isn't the way to conduct business.
Showing posts with label Commentary; Economy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commentary; Economy. Show all posts
Friday, July 11, 2014
Monday, December 17, 2012
U.S. Fiscal Irresponsibility
An op-ed piece in today's Salt Lake Tribune by cartoonist Pat Bagley touched on the subject of the current fiscal crisis the United States finds itself in. I wrote the following response to that op-ed:
"First of all, typical to a Bagley op-ed cartoon, this just doesn't make sense. The words of the character don't correlate to the rest of the picture. Plus, Bagley's drawings are amateurish, at best. Try looking up David Horsey, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist. His pictures are vastly superior to Bagley, and his comments always make sense.
Second, as I read things about the Congressional spending habits, I find it interesting that no one has remembered that the basic fiscal approach from both parties has flip-flopped. Until sometime early this century, the Democrats wanted to 'Save, Save, Save!' And the Republicans wanted to 'Spend, Spend, Spend!' Why the basic philosophical shift in dealing with America's money woes?
Unfortunately for both sides, partisanship will destroy this country. We can all thank Slimy Newt Gingrich for that one when he pressed the Republican Congress to fight any bipartisan efforts in any aspect of government. His "Contract with America" was the beginning of the current fiscal crisis.
In order to end this whole crisis, both sides of the aisle need to set aside the suspicions and anger and work cooperatively--as they did for decades of growth--to find solutions that will get us back on track towards fiscal health.
Lastly, in the entire debate as to what programs can be saved, and which ones can't, another lost bit of history looms over the entire discussion...that as of 2010, had Congress stuck to their predecessors guns and kept the plan in place, the United States would be out of debt, Medicare and Social security would be just fine, and the country would not be in trillions of dollars of debt to China--a debt that may never get paid off now.
Who is to blame for our current crisis? Both parties, and two consecutive Presidents...and all the voters who kept them all in office. In other words, we ALL are responsible. So before you go around pointing fingers, you'd better take a look at yourself.
"First of all, typical to a Bagley op-ed cartoon, this just doesn't make sense. The words of the character don't correlate to the rest of the picture. Plus, Bagley's drawings are amateurish, at best. Try looking up David Horsey, the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist. His pictures are vastly superior to Bagley, and his comments always make sense.
Second, as I read things about the Congressional spending habits, I find it interesting that no one has remembered that the basic fiscal approach from both parties has flip-flopped. Until sometime early this century, the Democrats wanted to 'Save, Save, Save!' And the Republicans wanted to 'Spend, Spend, Spend!' Why the basic philosophical shift in dealing with America's money woes?
Unfortunately for both sides, partisanship will destroy this country. We can all thank Slimy Newt Gingrich for that one when he pressed the Republican Congress to fight any bipartisan efforts in any aspect of government. His "Contract with America" was the beginning of the current fiscal crisis.
In order to end this whole crisis, both sides of the aisle need to set aside the suspicions and anger and work cooperatively--as they did for decades of growth--to find solutions that will get us back on track towards fiscal health.
Lastly, in the entire debate as to what programs can be saved, and which ones can't, another lost bit of history looms over the entire discussion...that as of 2010, had Congress stuck to their predecessors guns and kept the plan in place, the United States would be out of debt, Medicare and Social security would be just fine, and the country would not be in trillions of dollars of debt to China--a debt that may never get paid off now.
Who is to blame for our current crisis? Both parties, and two consecutive Presidents...and all the voters who kept them all in office. In other words, we ALL are responsible. So before you go around pointing fingers, you'd better take a look at yourself.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Continuing Consternation with Oil $ vs. Gas $
One of my original posts was about the disparity between a barrel of oil and the cost of a gallon of gas. Specifically, how when oil rises in price, gas quickly follows. Yet, when oil drops in price, gas takes weeks to drop even a few pennies.
Particularly troubling in this equation is that oil is typically purchased 30 days ahead of delivery. Theoretically then, we shouldn't see an increase in gasoline prices until 35-45 days after contract purchase (assuming the price of oil has risen), because the oil already being processed was paid for at a lower price per barrel. Yet, the same day a contract purchase increase occurs, we are seeing prices at the pump jump as well. Why?
I know that gasoline commodity shares are traded separately from oil; but they seem closely tied together whenever oil rises--but then look like two disparate entities when oil drops. Again...Why?
A few months ago, the price of gasoline in my area reached a peak average of about $3.17 per gallon (for regular unleaded). It has gone up to as much as $3.27 and as "low" as $3.09 Right now, the gas in my area is about .25 cents above the national average ($2.92).
Over the last few weeks, with increased uncertainty in Europe and the US, the price of oil has dropped from a high of $87.63 (?) per barrel, to the current price (at today's trading close) of $70.08. That's a 20% drop in the price per barrel. Yet, the gas in my area remains unchanged. Why?
If oil rose 20% you can be damned sure we'd see at least a 20% increase in the cost of our gasoline. Why does the reverse NOT hold true for a commodity so closely tied to oil futures?
I keep hearing all sorts of excuses coming from the oil companies as to why. They state things like Financial unrest in Greece, Uncertainty in China, Economic trouble in Europe due to the ash cloud from Iceland, etc. On Friday, I head another great excuse..."The further a market is from the refinery gasoline pipeline, naturally, the more the gas will cost in your area."
I know this excuse to be a load of poo, because there are four refineries in my area, just 55 miles away. That fact totally blows the oil industry's excuse right out of the water. Further, of the 5 states (in the continental US) with the highest average gas prices, four of them have at least 2 refineries operating in their borders. Makes me wonder what excuses we'll be hearing next...especially in those five states.
Meanwhile, the price per gallon of gasoline remains well above the national average. In the next two weeks, we're supposed to see a drop of about 10% in prices to an average of $2.64. Did I say that right? Yep--a mere 10% price reduction for a 20% drop in oil prices. That just doesn't seem right...probably because it isn't!
Let's look at the cost of gas from another angle. During the terrifying speculator-driven run-up of oil from 2006-2008, the price of oil peaked at about $147 per barrel. Gasoline was selling for about $4.45 average. That's about a 300% increase on both commodities from the pre-run-up prices of both.
Currently, oil prices are about 70% above pre-run-up prices; Yet gasoline is up 153%. (I used $1.15 per gallon gas, and $36 per barrel of oil as my basis for these numbers.) WHY? WHY? WHY? This makes no sense whatsoever. The only explanation that really makes any sense is that of corporate greed. No other reasonable explanation exists...as far as I am aware. In my opinion, the oil companies really like the massive profits they've been rolling in by the ship loads, and really don't want to give up those incredible net profits.
I'm sure there are other factors I'm not aware of; other influences I know nothing about. However, the numerical aspects do not lie. There IS a monstrous disparity between what oil costs, and what we pay at the pump. The gasoline markets are tied extremely closely when oil rises; but are disparate when oil falls. The excuses from oil companies continue to spew out rhetoric that just isn't true. And the American public seems to be the snicker doodles in the proverbial cookie jar that is Big Oil.
Guess who loses?
Particularly troubling in this equation is that oil is typically purchased 30 days ahead of delivery. Theoretically then, we shouldn't see an increase in gasoline prices until 35-45 days after contract purchase (assuming the price of oil has risen), because the oil already being processed was paid for at a lower price per barrel. Yet, the same day a contract purchase increase occurs, we are seeing prices at the pump jump as well. Why?
I know that gasoline commodity shares are traded separately from oil; but they seem closely tied together whenever oil rises--but then look like two disparate entities when oil drops. Again...Why?
A few months ago, the price of gasoline in my area reached a peak average of about $3.17 per gallon (for regular unleaded). It has gone up to as much as $3.27 and as "low" as $3.09 Right now, the gas in my area is about .25 cents above the national average ($2.92).
Over the last few weeks, with increased uncertainty in Europe and the US, the price of oil has dropped from a high of $87.63 (?) per barrel, to the current price (at today's trading close) of $70.08. That's a 20% drop in the price per barrel. Yet, the gas in my area remains unchanged. Why?
If oil rose 20% you can be damned sure we'd see at least a 20% increase in the cost of our gasoline. Why does the reverse NOT hold true for a commodity so closely tied to oil futures?
I keep hearing all sorts of excuses coming from the oil companies as to why. They state things like Financial unrest in Greece, Uncertainty in China, Economic trouble in Europe due to the ash cloud from Iceland, etc. On Friday, I head another great excuse..."The further a market is from the refinery gasoline pipeline, naturally, the more the gas will cost in your area."
I know this excuse to be a load of poo, because there are four refineries in my area, just 55 miles away. That fact totally blows the oil industry's excuse right out of the water. Further, of the 5 states (in the continental US) with the highest average gas prices, four of them have at least 2 refineries operating in their borders. Makes me wonder what excuses we'll be hearing next...especially in those five states.
Meanwhile, the price per gallon of gasoline remains well above the national average. In the next two weeks, we're supposed to see a drop of about 10% in prices to an average of $2.64. Did I say that right? Yep--a mere 10% price reduction for a 20% drop in oil prices. That just doesn't seem right...probably because it isn't!
Let's look at the cost of gas from another angle. During the terrifying speculator-driven run-up of oil from 2006-2008, the price of oil peaked at about $147 per barrel. Gasoline was selling for about $4.45 average. That's about a 300% increase on both commodities from the pre-run-up prices of both.
Currently, oil prices are about 70% above pre-run-up prices; Yet gasoline is up 153%. (I used $1.15 per gallon gas, and $36 per barrel of oil as my basis for these numbers.) WHY? WHY? WHY? This makes no sense whatsoever. The only explanation that really makes any sense is that of corporate greed. No other reasonable explanation exists...as far as I am aware. In my opinion, the oil companies really like the massive profits they've been rolling in by the ship loads, and really don't want to give up those incredible net profits.
I'm sure there are other factors I'm not aware of; other influences I know nothing about. However, the numerical aspects do not lie. There IS a monstrous disparity between what oil costs, and what we pay at the pump. The gasoline markets are tied extremely closely when oil rises; but are disparate when oil falls. The excuses from oil companies continue to spew out rhetoric that just isn't true. And the American public seems to be the snicker doodles in the proverbial cookie jar that is Big Oil.
Guess who loses?
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