Tag: economy

The false promise of falling gas prices

The Valero station at the Cranbury circle on Route 130 is selling unleaded regular for $1.71 a gallon cash — a figure that is shockingly low compared to the sometimes $3-plus a gallon we were paying in central New Jersey over the summer. And the other stations on Route 130 appear to be in the same $1.70-$1.75 range.

That is creating a false sense of security, an assumption that fuel efficiency is not an important consideration when looking for a new car.

I learned this on Friday, talking to my brother-in-law about my leased Nissan Murano. The lease runs out in February and Annie and I already are thinking about what we need to do. Both of us have come to the realization — something we should have understood three years ago — that fuel efficiency has to be a part of our discussion. We can’t afford a hybrid, nor are we prepared to go with a car small enough to get us 30-plus mpg, but we have to improve on the ridiculous 18 mpg we get now.

I told my brother-in-law this, saying we weren’t sure what we wanted to replace the Murano with.

“Why,” he said. “Gas prices are down.”

True enough. But for how long? The reality is that anything below $2 is artificially low (even $2.50 is optimistic) and when the economy stabilizes gas prices will start climbing again.

So, the best course of action is to understand this and rethink our response. It is no longer good enough to say gas prices are too high. We have to find ways to lessen our use, and the only way to do this is to cut down on our driving and to boost fuel-efficiency standards.

As a driver, I have to consider this when I buy (or lease) my next car. It is irresponsible — both economically and environmentally — not to.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Another centrist joins Obama’s team

Another paragon of the system joins the Obama economic team — welcome Paul Volcker, as chairman of the new Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Obama says the new advisory board

will be responsible for bringing fresh thinking and “vigorous oversight” to the administration’s efforts to jumpstart and reshape the nation’s economy.

“The reality is that sometimes policymaking in Washington can become too insular,” Obama said. “The walls of the echo chamber can sometimes keep out fresh voices and new ways of thinking–and those who serve in Washington don’t always have a ground-level sense of which programs and policies are working for people, and which aren’t.”

His argument sounds good, but why not diversify these appointments — bring in some labor movement folks, or those who work on antipoverty efforts rather than the bureaucrats and Wall Street-types he’s tapped so far? It’s a good question that Obama has yet to answer.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

To the rescue

Sometimes, you just have to point out the positive. From The Star-Ledger:

On Monday, Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen announced it would have to stop serving lunch on Tuesdays because, with donations down and demand on the rise, the agency could no longer afford to meet the demand.

But today, after an influx of donations totaling $7,000, the New Brunswick charity said it will be able to restore that weekly meal, at least through January.

And yet, that the soup kitchen needed the sudden deluge of money, that it is seeing a rise in demand at a time when fewer people can donate and it takes an emergency to change the dynamic…. But let’s focus on the positive for a moment.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.