Cultural Differences

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

We live in different parts of the world, so this is a space ask:

"How is it different where you live?"

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I'll start.

What's the price of Petrol / Gasoline where you live?

Here in the UK there's a lot of tax in the price of petrol so I'm expecting it to be quite expensive compared with the rest of you...

Per Litre it is about £1.47
or about £6.67 per (UK imperial) gallon (at 4.54 litres in a gallon)

That litre price equates to about €1.75 / $1.98 / AU$2.73

[Charger]

Liter of 95 octaine gas is 1.92€ and 98 is 1.99€ right now. Diesel is 1.70€ (Over 70% of that price is tax and it will go up again next year)

So yeah...the prices are INSANE and because of our left wing green government it'll only go higher as they don't understand people actually need to use cars because in their heads there is no life outside the capital city and there everyone can just use a bicycle..expect them ofcourse as they can use free car rides to work...what a bunch of dicks....but that's another story.

[Zzzptm]

I live in the USA. What's a petrol and what's a liter?

Here in Texas, it's at $3.05 per gallon for regular unleaded and $3.09 per gallon for premium unleaded.

1 gallon = 3.78 liters, so that is $0.81 per liter.

$1 = 0.89€ (don't have the Euro symbol in an easy place on my keyboard, so that's a copy-paste job I have to do. More cultural difference...)

So my cost per liter in € is 0.91€ per liter.

1€ = £0.84, so my cost in UK money is £1.07 per liter.

With 1.38 AUS$ in one US$, gasoline here is AUS$1.11 per liter.

A few months ago, before the price crunches hit us, our gas prices were two-thirds what they are now.

***

In other cultural difference news, we have great BBQ, Tex-Mex, and taquerias everywhere here. Texas is NOT famous for its pizza, however.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Are fuel prices pretty much the same all across the US of A or do different states vary?

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I had a Texan Pizza a few years back... basically it was a pizza with chicked and BBQ sauce on it (and maybe steak aswell!).

[Zzzptm]

Fuel will cost more when it's further away from the refineries. Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana are where it's usually the cheapest.

For the record, BBQ chicken pizza is *not* a Texas thing, even if it gets associated with us.

[Vyn]

Ye old petrol runs about the same where I live (Missouri) as it does for Z in Texas. At least, right now it does.

The price varies slightly if you are in a metropolitan city or rural town. It can vary significantly from one state to another, though.

Here's a list, prices obviously in Dollars for one U.S. gallon (a U.K. Imperial gallon represents about 16% less):

https://gasprices.aaa.com/state-gas-price-averages/

I can remember when gas was 45 cents/gallon, then it shot through the roof to a couple of dollars a gallon (briefly), then by the time I was old enough to drive/actually buy gas it was running about 70 cents/gallon.

[Zzzptm]

Before the Texas economy diversified in the 90s, I remembered watching gas prices fluctuate with the understanding that the higher prices meant more school funding and lower prices meant lean times ahead for my teachers.

[Vyn]

Fuel taxes in Missouri have always gone either to modot (Missouri Dept. of Transportation) or municipalities - all to be spent on road maintenance.

Interestingly, one of the things the state of Missouri is known for is its horrible roads.

[Zzzptm]

Fuel taxes in Texas include a cut from the refineries.

We got some SWELL roads here in the Lone Star State!

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

New Topic: Inflation


Here in the UK it has been on the rise in recent months, fuel costs rises are partly to blame but other factors come into play, like the knock-on effect of  BREXIT and the recovery from COVID lockdowns.

UK inflation for February was 6.2%

[Zzzptm]

7.9% here in the USA, before the gas price spike.

To be sure, there are several measures of inflation, if you'd like a geeky conversation.

But outside the volatile food and energy categories, US inflation is still up 6.4%, a huge number. And the pressures of the war in Ukraine are yet to come. Without the war, the pressures were expected to have peaked in March, but they are now extended forward.

[Charger]

Last month's inflatio here was 4.5% but this month it's gonna be something different with the near 30 cent (over 15%) increase on gas prices...

Dire times ahead that's for sure...

[Zzzptm]

Last month's inflatio here was 4.5% but this month it's gonna be something different with the near 30 cent (over 15%) increase on gas prices...

Dire times ahead that's for sure...

What we normally expect is for central banks to raise interest rates to slow down spending and put downward pressure on prices. However, with the way that governments have borrowed heavily without stoppage in the wake of the Panic of 2008, even small rises in interest rates can push them closer to some form of default, be it partial or full, domestic or foreign. Japan has been at the highest risk of instability for the longest time, so if inflation can be contained with only a few fractional increases, it may escape yet again. If inflation fighting requires more substantial interest rate hikes, Japan will have to make at least a partial default, with some hard impacts on the global banking system that could lead to overall instability, as happened in 2008.

My hope is that the shuddering we endure now gets world leaders to agree that even a small war = bad idea.