What idiocy (the article, not you, Pat). Obviously metrication makes prices clearer, not less clear. If metric somehow made prices more obfuscated in general, I suspect we'd see far less opposition from the FMI! In fact, maybe we should cite that article when talking to them. (kidding!)
--- Pat Naughtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear All, > > Consider this paragraph from: http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business- > news/latest-business-news/2008/03/05/food-for-thought-as-prices-go-on- > rising-51140-20557627/ > > The process of metrication in the pricing structure of petrol and > diesel is a clever way of disguising what the real cost is to those > who were brought up with gallons, but nevertheless the fact remains > that there will be a huge knock-on effect across a range of commodity > pricing this spring and summer. > > The sad part about fuel pricing is that it is done under the > obfuscation (deliberate confusion) of pricing by the barrel. For > example, oil sold at 100 $(USD)/barrel works out to be close to 63 > cents per litre. But this information is not provided each day in the > UK, the USA, or in Australia where fuel prices today are about $1.45 > (AUD) per litre (= 0.67 GBP or $1.35 USD). > > Once we are all thinking and talking in litres all along the oil > processing chain we can discuss relative costs and margins. Getting > the morning fix in barrels, converting this to gallons and then (in > most nations) to litres does no-one any good. > > By the way, the oil barrel never actually existed in any physical > sense. No oil has ever actually been poured into a barrel for > measuring purposes. The oil barrel is a theoretical construct based > on a notional compromise barrel of about 35 UK gallons (BP), about 42 > USA gallons (Exxon), or about 159 litres (Shell). The price per > barrel you see in the morning paper is there simply there for pricing > in such a way that the public will not understand the pricing process. > > > Cheers and thanks for your help with this, > > Pat Naughtin > > PO Box 305 Belmont 3216, > Geelong, Australia > Phone: 61 3 5241 2008 > > Metric system consultant, writer, and speaker, Pat Naughtin, has > helped thousands of people and hundreds of companies upgrade to the > modern metric system smoothly, quickly, and so economically that they > now save thousands each year when buying, processing, or selling for > their businesses. Pat provides services and resources for many > different trades, crafts, and professions for commercial, industrial > and government metrication leaders in Asia, Europe, and in the USA. > Pat's clients include the Australian Government, Google, NASA, NIST, > and the metric associations of Canada, the UK, and the USA. See > http://www.metricationmatters.com/ for more metrication information, > contact Pat at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or to get the free > 'Metrication matters' newsletter go to: http:// > www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter/ to subscribe. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping
