[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

You only chose one fruit to exemplify. With global production, produce comes to us from many different countries now, not just one local valley.

Because I can only type so much, and it's better IMHO to use concrete examples when possible. But the principle still holds true if you extend it to all seasonal produce.

Also, here in the West we don't get seasonal produce from many different countries, at least not at the same point in the season. In midwinter, we can get some greenhouse-grown or air-freighted from Chile at considerable cost, then as the year progresses the source moves up the coast, with some thing eventually coming from Canada in the fall. Same's true in Europe...

If you recall that's not the point I made. I never said the price of gas is caused by inflation alone. (You are ignoring my point about the cartel, etc.) I said that when the price of most things rise, that IS inflation.

Yes, that IS the point you made. It may not be what you INTENDED, but it's what came across. I don't believe I ignored what you wrote about cartels, I said that it's irrelevant, because at the consumer end it doesn't matter, it's supply & demand.

You've also reversed cause & effect: inflation will cause prices of most things to rise, but rising prices are not necessarily due to inflation. Besides, the prices of most things aren't rising, certainly not to the same extent as gas, and many things, like hard disk storage, are decreasing in price.

The supply isn't running out any time soon, or even long term.

Sorry, but that's just baloney. If you want to sign on to the infinite supply of oil fantasy, there's no point in discussion.

What was the trigger for this latest oil price increase? Removal of Libyan supplies from the market, no? Which is a decrease in supply.

Pumping proceeds at whatever the efficient rate is, not subject to emotions (I'm pumping as fast as I can!").

Nope. It's a simple mechanical problem. Given X number of pumps of a given horsepower, connected to Y number of wells, pipelines, etc, there is a maximum rate at which the oil can be pumped. Can't pump faster unless you buy more pumps, drill more wells, and lay more pipelines.

When you do finally "run out of shake" you can find another one elsewhere and drill and insert another "straw".

If indeed there are more "shakes" around. But they're getting harder & harder to find (something I know first-hand, 'cause a good part of my income these last few years has been writing seismic tomography code used in oil & mineral exploration), and it get more & more expensive to drill the wells &c. How much did that Gulf well cost to drill, even without the blowout? All goes into the price, you know.

OTOH if you are atop a sea of oil (as in Arabia) it doesn't require much looking to know where to find it, or as much effort to "insert another straw".

It's your assumption that SA is still on top of a sea of oil, and doesn't have it poked full of as many straws as it will hold already. But even if this was the case, why should they? They have a resource which, however large it may actually be, is still finite. Increasing demand &c makes it very likely that the price will keep going up for the foreseeable future, so it's simply not to their long-term economic benefit to pump faster, when they can hold back and sell later at a higher price.

First you moan about Mc Mansions being built upon small lots (as if you live in a city) and now you say that you need hundreds of millions of dollars to buy enough land for a home. How absurd.

No, I did not say that. I said you need hundreds of millions of dollars to buy "a huge tract of land". To me, "huge" means at least several square miles. Around here it's not at all hard to find decent land priced at over $100K/acre.

...nor do you need a hundred acres on which to have a single family home.

Speak for yourself. I'd call a hundred acres pretty minimal, myself. Especially since it wasn't that long ago that you could get a quarter-section (160 acres) just by filing a homestead claim on it. Nowadays? Well, here's a decent (though small) parcel not far down the road from me: 8090 Musgrove Creek Drive 203, Washoe Valley NV 89704 | Homes.com