Comments on: The 6 Most Over-Hyped Threats to America (And What Should Scare You Instead) http://www.bspcn.com/2007/08/16/the-6-most-over-hyped-threats-to-america-and-what-should-scare-you-instead/ Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:25:47 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Kyle http://www.bspcn.com/2007/08/16/the-6-most-over-hyped-threats-to-america-and-what-should-scare-you-instead/comment-page-1/#comment-20093 Kyle Mon, 11 Aug 2008 01:48:52 +0000 http://www.bspcn.com/2007/08/16/the-6-most-over-hyped-threats-to-america-and-what-should-scare-you-instead/#comment-20093 Yes, France, Britain, and Germany have long dealt with higher gas prices... but each of those nations also fits comfortably within just one of our fifty states. Geography and transportation are a much bigger deal in America than in Europe. We are far more sparsely distributed as a people. So unlike Londoners for whom a personal car is a luxury item and public transportation is abundant, Americans living anywhere but a big city must drive their own car. And yet still this is not a giant issue, and on its own could be dealt with. The real problem is that our vast landmass translates into very large shipping costs, so increases in gasoline costs translate into price hikes in consumer goods. The only reason the public hasn't been whacked over the head with these increases - so far - is that trucking companies have been operating at a loss, hoping to hang on to their client base until gas prices drop. But now many of them are going belly up, and gas prices show no sign of dropping in the future. Eventually the companies that have survived will need to pass on their costs to consumers. Fuel prices are a very big deal in the US, and will only become moreso in the future. Yes, France, Britain, and Germany have long dealt with higher gas prices… but each of those nations also fits comfortably within just one of our fifty states. Geography and transportation are a much bigger deal in America than in Europe. We are far more sparsely distributed as a people. So unlike Londoners for whom a personal car is a luxury item and public transportation is abundant, Americans living anywhere but a big city must drive their own car. And yet still this is not a giant issue, and on its own could be dealt with. The real problem is that our vast landmass translates into very large shipping costs, so increases in gasoline costs translate into price hikes in consumer goods. The only reason the public hasn’t been whacked over the head with these increases – so far – is that trucking companies have been operating at a loss, hoping to hang on to their client base until gas prices drop. But now many of them are going belly up, and gas prices show no sign of dropping in the future. Eventually the companies that have survived will need to pass on their costs to consumers.

Fuel prices are a very big deal in the US, and will only become moreso in the future.

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