Question: If 70% Of The Economy Is Based On Consumer Spending, Why Are We Allowing The Oil Companies To Suck Us Dry...

[Leocadie]

at the pump(see Record profits/Exon-Mobil) while there is plenty of oil? Lower gas prices equal lower food prices etc. equals more DIVERSE consumer spending equals more jobs. Regulate the price of gas and the economy benefits.

[Lowell]

but the only way to regulate the price of gas is to refuse to buy it; and I don't know about you; but if I try to carry my tools to the jobsite on my back; I'll never get any work done.   TheLightWorks 29 months ago

[Draca]

> That means that there is less demand and therefore less factory workers, engineers, etc. being hired by the car manufacturers.But the money is still there. The economy doesn't care if it's a thousand people earning a reasonable salary, or one CEO. It's all the same to the economy.I'm not trying to defend any of that. I'm merely pointing out that the argument you're making is the wrong one. > Of course the stockholders profit on paper but what percentage of stock is now owned by individuals? 10% or less? That's another wrong argument. Many of those institutions are mutual funds and retirement accounts. The individual doesn't control the shares of the corporation directly but does share in the profits.   PamPerdue 29 months ago

[Jazmina]

It doesn't matter what the money is spent on. Consumer spending on oil is just consumer spending. If you nationalized the oil companies and gave away free oil, it couldn't raise consumer spending. At best, they'd just spend the money on other things, leading to zero net change in consumer spending.As for "allowing the oil companies to suck us dry," it's your choice. Go buy a bicycle.   PamPerdue 29 months ago

[Aescwyn]

Taxes aren't GDP, either. Government spending contributes to GDP, but a dollar spent by the government counts the same as a dollar spent by an individual.   PamPerdue 29 months ago