WI: US nationalization of Oil

  • Thread starter Deleted member 67076
  • Start date

kernals12

Banned
America is a country where most people use cars to get around almost everywhere. Outside of big cities we have practically no public transportation. Because of this the price of gasoline is almost as big of an issue in America as the price of bread was in eighteenth century France.
Gasoline makes up just 2.5% of US personal consumption expenditures, saying it's almost as big a deal as the price of bread in 18th century France is extreme hyperbole. Healthcare and taxes are a much bigger deal.
 
Last edited:

RousseauX

Donor
Gasoline makes up just 2.5% of US personal consumption expenditures, saying it's almost as big a deal as the price of bread in 18th century France is extreme hyperbole. Healthcare and taxes are a much bigger deal.
you are right of course that comparing it to price of bread is farcical, but high prices is basically same as a gasoline tax. It's a form of regressive taxation basically.
 

kernals12

Banned
It depends on if we are talking about the oil being exported. And it is hardly as though Americans would all be able to draw a share from it.
The US has always consumed very nearly every drop of oil it produced. The best it did was in 1938 when it was able to export just 4% of its production.
And given how progressive government spending is, I'm guessing in increase in profits would disproportionately benefit the poor.
 

kernals12

Banned
I wonder how this would impact politics in Texas. Oil men were the biggest benefactors of that state's conservative establishment and became a 4 letter word among liberals, not just in Texas but across the country, in the 50s and 60s. Most infamous were the Hunts. H.L Hunt had published a sermon claiming that JFK's Catholic faith made him unfit for office, his son Bunker had leaflets printed in the style of a wanted poster, calling him a communist traitor. They were handed out on... November 22, 1963 to coincide with the President's trip to Dallas. This sort of behavior made those on the left seeth with anger and call for an end to the oil depletion allowance.
So, nationalizing oil could defuse a major culture war.
 
The US has always consumed very nearly every drop of oil it produced. The best it did was in 1938 when it was able to export just 4% of its production.
And given how progressive government spending is, I'm guessing in increase in profits would disproportionately benefit the poor.
Which was why I was talking about how American consumers might vote in such ways that the government has to keep prices down, as well as available everywhere, even if it means the work at a loss. I am thinking like with the Postal Service.
 
Gasoline makes up just 2.5% of US personal consumption expenditures, saying it's almost as big a deal as the price of bread in 18th century France is extreme hyperbole. Healthcare and taxes are a much bigger deal.
But factories need oil to run, everyone needs oil to move around, and oil is needed to transport goods just a tiny price increase can cause major inflation. Just look at the OPEC Oil boycotts and their affect of the American economy.
 

kernals12

Banned
But factories need oil to run, everyone needs oil to move around, and oil is needed to transport goods just a tiny price increase can cause major inflation. Just look at the OPEC Oil boycotts and their affect of the American economy.
Oil prices have risen by 1/3 since December, have you noticed massive inflation? Me neither. And factories run on electricity, only 5% of which comes from fuel oil.
 
Top