So, today CNN published a story about an MCO-area gas station charging over $5.50 a gallon for gas – much higher, incidentally than the average of just over $3.50 in the rest of metro Orlando.
(source) In a related story, the same paper analyzed why gas prices in the USA are so high while the price of a barrel of oil is comparatively lower than when the gas prices were previously this high.
(source) After reading these stories and more about how the oil un-regulated oil speculators have the single biggest impact on the price of oil and gas in the USA, I decided to make a modest proposal. See what you think?
Well, as a small retailer, every aspect of running my business is impacted by the cost of oil and gas. My suppliers raise their delivery fees. The supplies all cost more as suppliers raise prices. Even the chocolate has gone up.
(source) I like how the gas stations can just keep raising the price every day and customers pour in (should that be poor in?). How can I stay in business if all of my costs go up, but I'm still charging $3.99 for a sandwich? So, my proposal is simple, everyone who sells anything should post up a "Gas Factor" sign in the window. This will then be a factor that is added on to the price of each person's bill. It will change everyday based on the average cost of a gallon of gas in your state as available from
www.GasBuddy.com. So, for example, in Colorado today, the average cost of a gallon of gas was $3.584. To me, and you can disagree, gas for this decade should cost $2.00 a gallon. Therefore, the increased cost is $1.584 per gallon. So, the gas factor would be 15.84% and the cost of my $3.99 sandwich today would be $4.95. What do you think?
I've kept the cost of my sandwich at $3.99 since November. Back then the cost of gas in Colorado was about $2.70. That is an increase of 32%. Does it seem logical that for random reasons in the universe, oil refineries should be able to raise their prices by an amount that causes gas to go up 32%, but I should just sit back with my $3.99 sandwich? People got to get gas, well, people got to eat.
Why should the oil companies be the only ones profiting off this wonderful game of roulette they are playing? Why shouldn't I have a quick and easy way of adjusting my prices everyday so they are in sync with the cost of gas? Imagine if everyone did this. Wouldn't the next result just be inflation? It's not inflation if only one sector of the economy raises prices just to raise them. If everyone does this, though. If people ask, "Why do your prices fluctuate every day for the same thing?" I'll say,
"Oh, it's the gas factor. You know just like the cost of a gallon of gas changes every hour."
Maybe this would be a better solution that trying to figure out who to blame for the price of gas. Is it the government, the oil speculators, the buyers and demanders, the suppliers, the Chinese who?
So, what do you think?