They told us the cost of living was so high because of gas prices

[J_J_]

Everything has gone up since gas went through the roof, food, heat, all transported food etc.

So now that the cost of oil is dropping quite a bit, is everyone's cost of living going down?

Food?

Heat going down?

Power bills should be going down too....

[raccoon]

1. good point. nt

[Warpy]

2. Only because telling it was because of greedy unions causing inflation

wasn't working any more.

The cost of living is high because wages have been kept artificially low.

[J_J_]

14. also speculation on our commodities driving costs for excess profits

But don't ask why the people are poor....


Pope Francis has been labelled a communist by some hard right elements in the US after denouncing the ‘tyranny of capitalism’, calling the wealth made from financial speculation as intolerable and saying speculation on commodities was a scandal that compromised the poor’s access to food.


It is time for us to start demanding a real discussion about what is happening to people in this country.

25% of children in the US are starving!

Somebody stop them for God's sake!!

Child poverty in America is at its highest point in 20 years, putting millions of children at increased risk of injuries, infant mortality, and premature death, according to a policy analysis published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

As the U.S. emerges from the worst recession since the Great Depression, 25% of children don’t have enough food to eat and 7 million kids still don’t have health insurance, the analysis says. Even worse: Five children die daily by firearms, and one dies every seven hours from abuse or neglect.

“It shouldn’t be this hard for kids to grow and thrive in the world’s richest, most powerful nation,”

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-child-poverty-20141021-story.html

[Populist_Prole]

15. +1. I'm sick of that canard too

It's even worse when conservative faux populism tries to sound pro-working class but barks up every single tree except the one they really should: Corporatists.

[Scuba]

3. Don't worry, when gas prices go back up, they'll raise everything else. Again.

[unblock]

4. the prices of many goods are "upward sticky", prices at the pump being the most notorious example.

the idea is that when gas prices go up, a gas station immediately needs to raise prices at the pump to cover the higher costs.

but when prices go down, there's not the same pressure to immediately cut prices at the pump, the station can play the waiting game to see of nearby stations cut first (implicit collusion / temporary trust, but that's what happens).

it's similar in many other industries. you don't need much beyond rising costs for end prices to go up, but you need working, efficient competition for prices to go down.

[strawberries]

5. My heat went down

last year it cost me $500.00 for 100 gallons. They just filled my tank 150 gallons and it cost me $536.00

My electric bill went down $10, but my food is still high

[Thinkingabout]

6. The world oil prices have gone down for a reason, Saudi is flooding the market with crude

and all to hurt ISIS and Russia, Russia for the sanctions and ISIS to halt the flow of money. This will be until Russia decides to give up some of their hard headiness. On hurting ISIS hopefully they can be brought under control also.

[JimDandy]

11. Cheap Saudi oil prices are also hurting US shale oil production

A large portion of US oil is locked up in shale rock and it becomes un-economical to extract if oil goes below $82 a barrel. Whatever Saudi's stated reason, their real reason is likely different.

[Thinkingabout]

12. It is in the interest of the US also, we have placed sanctions on Russia, their economy is hurting.

Having world prices going down hurts Russia and ISIS. Yes this may be having an effect on shale oil production is perhaps also going to accomplish more needs than Saudi. I forgot to mention this affects Iran.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

13. The "unconventional" costs have a lot of hot air built into them

Falling oil prices will put a damper on new investment (which wouldn't be a bad thing over the next five years, we just don't need any more light crude) and that will bring down the break-even cost on shale and bitumen.

[sendero]

7. I love it how....

.. when the CPI figures are calculated and inflation is discussed, the "volatile food and energy" sectors are excluded. But now that gas prices are dropping they love to talk about how disinflationary that is.

Both sides of their asses, 24/7.

[William769]

8. Not going to happen.

I live in S.W. Florida and we just had one of the hottest summers ever on record for this area here. My electric bill has averaged $350.00 a month since may!

This is the first month I will catch a break because of the weather.

No, the cost of living won't go down.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. The electricity used to heat my house comes mostly from hydro

Oil, natural gas and coal combined contribute about 1.39% of the power generated used here. Wind is at 5%.

[Travis_0004]

10. My heating bill will be much lower

Im locked in at .51 per ccf. If I asked for that rate a few years ago they would have laughed at me. I only used 4 ccf last month for the water heater, but winter is coming, and I will have much higher useage in a few months.