Thank you all for the insightful comments. I've forwarded your remarks to my writer friend who is most appreciative. Like many questions we pose in this discussion list, the answer is "it depends." We'll have to wait and see how the complex web of factors plays out in the global economy but the times they are a-changin'. Pauric, thanks for sharing Kunstler's TED talk. I want to be a good citizen in this brave new world ;-)
On Sat, Jul 12, 2008 at 12:45 AM, Steve Baty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Angel, > > There is no meaningful answer to that question: the economy is too complex; > and there is simply no way to pick one factor at play and ask "how will this > affect *some other thing*". A lot of things *may* happen. As Dave pointed > out: higher delivery costs may cause people to buy less online; or the lower > cost of buying online versus driving to buy it in person might work the > other way. People might start to car-pool and head to the mall with their > neighbours, which might mean instead of all buying smaller cars we buy one > large passenger car, but use it less. > > I should also point out that while you ask about the effect of gas prices > on the economy, the fact is that, at the moment, the largest impact on the > US economy is coming from the fall-out of the sub-prime mortgage farce. > You're also ignoring the effect of a booming economy in China and India; a > very large appetite for primary resources in those countries as a result of > huge spending on infrastructure projects; a growing demand for manufactured > imported goods from the US and Europe; etc etc etc. > > One last thing I will say about gas prices: what you pay for your petrol at > your local gas station has bugger-all effect on your economy. A much more > direct impact is the effect those prices have on the cost of transporting > goods from one city to another; one state to another; and one country to > another. They're the effects driving the price of the goods that you > purchase, and you have no control over those. On the other hand, your gas > price for your car can be reduced by driving less or being more careful > about your driving. > > Regards > Steve > > > 2008/7/12 Angel Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > >> A friend is a writer for an LA-based appeal newspaper and he was wondering >> what the folks in the Interaction Design community might have to say about >> this question: how will rising gas prices affect e-commerce? >> > > -- > ---------------------------------------------- > Steve 'Doc' Baty B.Sc (Maths), M.EC, MBA > Principal Consultant > Meld Consulting > M: +61 417 061 292 > E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > UX Statistics: http://uxstats.blogspot.com > > Member, UPA - www.upassoc.org > Member, IA Institute - www.iainstitute.org > Member, IxDA - www.ixda.org > Contributor - UXMatters - www.uxmatters.com ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
