[joelcolorado]

I thot that at $3 the economy would crumble under the strain and maybe it did and just catching up with us now. Most of the economic stimulus money went to gas and groceries which was NOT the plan.

And credit is at an all time high and increasing fast. I believe ppl have given up and charge what they want and just done care, honestly. But you see more and more ppl getting $20 or $10 worth of gas instead of filling up, too. So there is a point where we break.
$4 is now here and I think there will be huge ramifications now. Restaurants are closing due to low traffic count and this will snowball now. Ppl will cut back more and more and more until the malls stand empty of all the repeat stores that are there now.

I have never seen so many diff stores for things we DO NOT NEED> Those will go first. Home depot already suffering due to ppl not doing home improvement projects.

Taxes going up, county state and fed plus schools, use taxes etc.
Airlines charging for water and pepsi now and each bag taken. we are in the midst of collapse and DONT KNOW IT> funny as hell.
I finally talked to my son enough he is not buying a new SUV but looking at the smallest car made for now.

What do you think the PRICE is where we go belly up an you REALLY notice some huge changes?

[Cashmere]

Unrest at 5.
Protests at 6.
Riots at 8-10.

After that it won't matter much.

[Heineken]

I am on record as stating that "all hell would break loose when gasoline got to $4," by which I meant fundamental disturbances in the Force. This appears to have begun to happen.

As important as the price itself is the rate of change. A sudden increase (over the course of, say, a few days or weeks) to $5 or $6 could well spawn panic and chaos.

It's hard to say where the trigger point lies, but it's out there waiting.

The gas price will not rise in a straight line; pullbacks are certain. We could have a period of normalization, but any improvements will be only temporary.

[Don35]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'I')t's hard to say where the trigger point lies, but it's out there waiting.

The gas price will not rise in a straight line; pullbacks are certain. We could have a period of normalization, but any improvements will be only temporary.

[Byron100]

In the past, I've said that $7 gas in the USA will be the breaking point, and I still stick by that today. We'll have major strains at $5 and $6, but at $7, I do think we're talking full-blown depression, with massive retail store and restaurant closings, huge rises in unemployment and the overloading of public transit systems in the big cities as people desperately seek other modes of transportation.

When gas hits $7 a gallon, I expect the airlines to do a collective BK...and of course, the gov't will attempt to keep them alive...but that won't last too long. Same thing with "gas credits" and other emergency measures...these won't help much either.

Let the riots begin!

[Heineken]

It's a really, really interesting question, isn't it?

The question, all by itself, unmasks our spectacular, baby-like dependency over a commodity that's dwindling in supply and which we have little control over.

As I said before, though, one can't look only at the price. You have to combine the price with the rate of change.

[vision-master]

Price will not cause panic and chaos, chronic fuel shortages will.

[Bman4k1]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'U')nrest at 5.
Protests at 6.
Riots at 8-10.

After that it won't matter much.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bman4k1', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'U')nrest at 5.
Protests at 6.
Riots at 8-10.

After that it won't matter much.

[joelcolorado]

So far, good comments. Thanks. IS there anyone who understands economics enough to really put a number to this?

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joelcolorado', 'S')o far, good comments. Thanks. IS there anyone who understands economics enough to really put a number to this?

[Cashmere]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joelcolorado', 'S')o far, good comments. Thanks. IS there anyone who understands economics enough to really put a number to this?

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bman4k1', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cashmere', 'U')nrest at 5.
Protests at 6.
Riots at 8-10.

After that it won't matter much.

[Farknight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')o, price won't matter, cause you figure at least "I can buy my fuel", it's when the pumps run dry - FOOKEN PANIC!

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Farknight', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')o, price won't matter, cause you figure at least "I can buy my fuel", it's when the pumps run dry - FOOKEN PANIC!

[BigTex]

I'm with VM and others--as long as fuel is available at any price, things are unlikely to get ugly.

It's when it's not available that people are going to start acting crazy.

They're doing $10 a gallon fuel in Britain and the world still turns (I think it does, anyway).

We haven't even started seriously down the whole carpooling thing yet. That's next, and that will provide a lot of relief to some people with long commutes.

Maybe $25 a gallon would start to create some friction.

I think the frog in the boiling water analogy is appropriate here--people will adjust to higher prices without freaking out so long as it is reasonably gradual and fuel is available for SOME price.

The 1970s only got ugly because of price control induced shortages.

To date, I don't think anyone could have predicted how little social unrest would be caused by $4.00 a gallon gas and nearly $5.00 a gallon diesel.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '.')..
They're doing $10 a gallon fuel in Britain and the world still turns (I think it does, anyway).
...

[grampybone]

$7.00 a gallon and all hell breaks loose.

[MD]

Price has already caused panic and chaos. In the US, it's mostly found on an individual basis, as households deal with empty checkbooks.

Collective panic and chaos will emerge here and there as price continues to rise, i.e. trucker's strikes, food riots, etc.

Economic activities that require high energy input but deliver little or no productive value will be under great pressure. Many of these activities will cease.

Those on this board that continue to seek the magic number that will "trigger the collapse" really need to stop looking.

It doesn't work that way.

Some people and regions and economic subsets will prosper through this change.

Many others will suffer.

It's really not hard to see where the prosperity will come from. Move yourself into those economies, and the price of gas won't matter . . . much.

Once you are well situated, go about your business.

I suppose a comet might land on your head anyway, but there's really no point in planning for that, is there?

[wisconsin_cur]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MD', '
')I suppose a comet might land on your head anyway, but there's really no point in planning for that, is there?