On Jan 23, 2009, at 12:00 PM, dsummersmi...@comcast.net wrote: > Since then, I've been seeing promises of competative electric cars. > When > gas prices were at $4.50/gallon, the premium for hybrids was within > $1000 > of being a wash. But, now that prices are back close to $1.50 > (around here > at least....but when we were up near $4.50, I'd guess you were > higher too) > hybrid sales are falling like a rock.
And that, in turn, is a symptom of how susceptible the mainstream is to short-term thinking and its application to decisions with long-term effects. People buying cars really seem to think that fuel prices will always be what they are right now, and we won't have another $4+/gal peak or even higher soon. They also really seem to think there won't be an overall upward trend on top of seasonal and market-driven fluctuations. No other interpretation makes sense to me, when people turn around and buy 10-15 mpg SUV's and pickups the moment fuel goes down below $2/gal. (The only exception would be if they plan to trade the thing in next summer when the fuel prices go back up, which is a different kind of insanity.) _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
