[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

No, it DOES matter, because whether you restrict the supply or increase the demand, either will raise the price. That's NOT irrelevant at all.

Did I miss something here? I thought that was my side of the argument, that rising gas prices are due to supply & demand issues, not inflation?

Yes, "the prices of most things" ARE rising. Stay tuned. You'll see the overall increase soon. (Or you might already have, viewed over time.)

The cause doesn't matter. It's still inflation of prices.

I don't see that at all, though I'll agree that what I buy may not match all that well with "most things". And it's not inflation if the price increases are due to supply & demand pressures. Economics 101 again.

That is probably the reason for the latest, current market spike. But the overall price trend over time is UP. Which means that after the current spike abates, you still will be paying more. So the predominant factor is not that of the price spike. That's merely a diversion, or a red herring (if you will).

But this in turn is a red herring, because whatever the upward price drivers may be, they are NOT inflation. (Excepting the small fraction that is ongoing inflation, of course.)

But any increased expense of exploration involved has to do (again) with inflation. The technology is improving, but the cost is greater.

Absolutely not. The increased cost of exploration is because all the easy-to-get-to places are already explored. A century ago an oil company could drill a few hundred feet into Texas, and hit oil. Nowadays they have to run a drilling platform and drill 10,000 feet into the Gulf...

They are acting in their own self-interest, which is not only economic but also nationalistic, ethnic, and religious.

And which is NOT inflation :-)

They aren't doing it to "save the planet". Only naive or politically indoctrinated Americans spout that idealistic claptrap.

Saving the planet is idealistic? It's always seemed pretty pragmatic to me. I mean, where exactly are you planning to go if the planet isn't saved?

Then I will say to you "move elsewhere".

But there is no elsewhere, at least that I know of. No place on Earth where I could afford to own a decent tract of land - and I'm far from poor, too. It's just the reality of an overcrowded planet: only the super-rich can afford to own land.

Okay. I live in suburban NY, near the city. My lot is about 60 x 100 and my house is more than amply large to accommodate a typical family.

Where do you keep the horses? Or the garden?

Why do you feel a NEED for 100 acres or more upon which to live? Do you have a need to be alone, away from society? Or do you just envy anyone who builds a large new home on a small plot of land?

I can't tell you why, any more than I can tell you why I get hungry or sleepy. Can you tell me why you apparently don't? It just seems an inherent part of being. Nor do I envy those people at all. In my kinder moments I pity them, just as I sometimes pity people whose insecurities lead them to drive Hummers &c, or pay tens of thousands for a wristwatch. It's as though they're zoo animals who've gotten so used to their confined little cages that their idea of freedom is a better-decorated little cage.