Petrol prices in New Zealand
For American readers wondering what the heck I meant by $2 a litre, which is what we are paying now for regular (actually $2·01), I did a quick calculation this morning. This translates, in US dollars, to between $5·90 and $6 per gallon. Four bucks a gallon is a memory …
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When we bought the Expedition in '98...gas was 99 cents a gallon =/
Japan is only marginally cheaper than us from Jessica’s figure, so it looks like the US is still “lucky” with its prices.
Off the top of my head, $4 a gallon would translate to NZ$1·33 per litre, so US$1·10.
Those were the "Good Old Days" ;)
In 1972 it was 17.9/ gal for leaded regular gas in Los Angeles where I worked. Now it's still under $4/ gal in Tucson.
What also annoys me is the hauliers, they're gutless and self-serving. They'll block roads for a day and say that hauliers should get a rebate. What about the rest of us? If they blocked refineries like they did that time and said 'cheaper prices for everyone' then they'd have public support and it would take only a few days to bring the government down. Our govt is so weak now any public action on that scale could topple it, I think. But no, the truckers serve themselves and do so half heartedly at best. If this were France they'd blockade Paris and sit there as long as it took.
Pete, I agree—Labour is not helping this situation. I wish those truckers would do something along the lines of what you suggest.
Jack, I heartily wish people in this country had a hunger for change, enough of a hunger to act on it, but we seem to very much tow the government line. I'd say Labour have done far worse than the poll tax - but no one has rioted this time, because Labour claim to be the people's party people just accept it.
Zak: natural gas gets my support generally, though there are a few arguments against it, from what I understand from my main blog’s comments.
Pete, true: whenever we see an illogical decision, I say, ‘Follow the money.’ The air car sounds good and if any country’s going to make a go of it, it’ll be India. I think Mr Ratan Tata has expressed an interest in it, and it should be interesting to see where that, and the little Tata Nano microcar, head. Certainly India is looking for solutions to the internal combustion engine that a place like Red China has failed to.
Xmangerm, €1,55 does sound worryingly high—though once upon a time, whatever we paid in dollars, Europeans paid in euros. So the rate of increase down here has been far higher than it has been there.
Here, stories such as the alternatives (LPG, CNG) have not even made it into the mainstream media, so while it makes sense to cast votes for sensible future politicians, the major two parties here have managed to keep a lid on real stories.
Nothing goes up indefinitely, even in a long term up trend there are down drafts. The difficulty lies in comparing the present price of gasoline with historical price levels considering the debasement of the dollar or any other government's fiat currency.
I saw this in my Chinese classmates as well. Some of them had a very hard time adapting to a method of learnign where they were required to be active participants in class and have original ideas as opposed to sitting there and copying down everything that was said.
Jeff, there is that tendency to copy and repeat. It’s a shame because the intellect is there. Chinese–Americans, for example, do extremely well, but those who have begun with a Red Chinese education would probably find adaptation hard (though they would score highly because of the emphasis on regurgitation in a lot of western education).
My eye is on India—I think it’s going to be a major player in a huge way.