Wildcat said:
That is really expensive. I wonder if the price is so high in Europe to discourage people from driving due to the severe traffic congestion in. Similiar to how they've increased the price of cigarettes in recent years here in the US--it doesn't cost any more to make the cigarettes, but they've raised the price significantly in an effort to discourage people from smoking.
No, cigarettes and oil are totally different. The price of cigarettes is high because it endangers our health. And in France, cigarettes prices are also high because of the Welfare System we have. Our welfare system allows us to be cured whithout paying (sounds weird, I know). Considering the government pay for, he wants to prevents us from suffering from this kind of disease because of their cost.
Oil issue has other roots. First oil is not infinite (30 years remaining which means 20 before the price rises such a unaffordable level). So in the US, the government begins to realize it and does what we have done some decades ago: reducing the consumption. In Europe, we also have a high price in order to prevent variations and to keep control, to have time to adapt. Moreover, more the oil is rare more it's expensible. Others reasons are oil companies are currently in investment time (partly because they need money to fetch the oil in less accessible areas) and countries like China have nowadays a huge need of oil because of their growth.
In the US, the price was low, because they initially thought that it will increase your consumption in other fields.
Oh, I forget our gas is more expensive because the quality is better : RON are 95 or 98 in Europe and around 85 I suppose in the US.
Wildcat said:
I'm also wondering how the income of people in Europe compares to people's income in the US. Is it possilbe that, considering all all the factors and the cost of living, people earn more money in Europe? I would think that you all would have to earn more given how expensive everything seems to be. Otherwise, no one would be able to afford to live.
So, while $7-10 for gas seems extremely expensive, is it possilbe that Europeans make more money than people in the US so they can afford to pay these severe prices? Maybe not physically (as in actual dollar amounts), but based on inflation, price of things, etc. in Europe. Does that make any kind of sense at all?
I really have no idea how much Europeans make vs Americans so don't kill me if I'm way off here.
I think we earn less than the Americans because our income taxes are between 20 and 45 % (I'm not sure, but the range is good), but we have a welfare system and a job benefits program for unemployed workers.. But the raw wages (without tax) are probably the same.
But in my country, people think twice before taking their car considering the price of oil.
The difference is in Europe, the first question a guy ask the salesman before buying a car is "what about the fuel economy?". It's obsessional. Really.
Let's compare cars from the US and from Europe.
-Chevy Suburban : 12 miles/gallon (19 litres/100km) (your system is weird. I had to do a conversion
)
-Peugeot 407 (french car) : 33 miles/gallon (7 litres/100km)
Last thing but not least : 85% of our cars are diesel. Gasoil is cheaper and fuel consumption is lower. Our car industries have accomodated with all those stuffs, US car industries seem not to be ready for a quick shift like that.