Fat people? Less gas!

Bill Bonde ( 'Hi ho' ) wrote:

landotter wrote:
On Nov 2, 7:56 pm, "Mike Kruger" wrote:
According to a study by Charles Courtemanche
You'd trust a study by a dude with a faggy name like that?

In other news, gas is $7/gallon in the UK and they still fry Mars bars.

Think of it this way, if you could afford to drive your 15 mpg SUV at $2
per gallon, you can likely afford to drive a 45 mpg car at $6 a gallon
and a 60 mpg Trotter-mobile at $8. Americans can certainly adjust to
increases in petrol prices.

But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

On Sat, 3 Nov 2007, Tom Sherman wrote:

Bill Bonde ( 'Hi ho' ) wrote:
landotter wrote:

In other news, gas is $7/gallon in the UK and they still fry Mars bars.

Think of it this way, if you could afford to drive your 15 mpg SUV at $2
per gallon, you can likely afford to drive a 45 mpg car at $6 a gallon
and a 60 mpg Trotter-mobile at $8. Americans can certainly adjust to
increases in petrol prices.

But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more sensible
vehicles.

I'd like to think so and, if history is any guide, some will drive
smaller, more sensible vehicles. A second effect could be a tidal change
away from long commutes, with people living closer to their workplace.
But some Murricans will demand and get higher wages to cover their higher
commute cost, which will inevitably lead to inflation and an eventual
return to something approaching current costs in constant dollars.

Lee "Depending on what China does, of course" Ayrton



--
"We began to realize, as we plowed on with the destruction of New Jersey,
that the extent of our American lunatic fringe had been underestimated."
Orson Wells on the reaction to the _War Of The Worlds_ broadcast.

Tom Sherman wrote:


But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

Let's see. I drive 12k per year and get 15mpg from my paid-for 6-cyl
Mazda, using 800 gals per year. At $3/gal that costs me $2,400 per
year.

Gas goes to $10 per gallon and my 800 gals cost $8000.

Or, I trade for a new car that gets 30mpg. I now use 400 gals per
year. At $10, that's $4000, per year. But the new car costs me
(conservatively) about $400 a month for 4-5 years, so in addition to
gas I'm now paying about $4,800 in car payments, for a total of $8,800
per year.

If the new car costs (including interest) $24,000 over five years, and
I save $4k per year in gas, it takes me six years to break even. The
more expensive the new car, the longer the break-even point.

"Sensible", to me, is sticking with a car that's pretty much paid for,
regardless of the cost of gas.

Tom Sherman wrote:
Bill Bonde ( 'Hi ho' ) wrote:

landotter wrote:
On Nov 2, 7:56 pm, "Mike Kruger" wrote:
According to a study by Charles Courtemanche
You'd trust a study by a dude with a faggy name like that?

In other news, gas is $7/gallon in the UK and they still fry Mars
bars.

Think of it this way, if you could afford to drive your 15 mpg SUV at
$2 per gallon, you can likely afford to drive a 45 mpg car at $6 a
gallon and a 60 mpg Trotter-mobile at $8. Americans can certainly
adjust to increases in petrol prices.

But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

yawn Which would only be needed because of those prices.

Similarly, "At least higher cancer rates would get more people into
chemotherapy and radiotherapy."


--
Blinky RLU 297263
Killing all posts from Google Groups
The Usenet Improvement Project - http://improve-usenet.org

landotter wrote:

Yup. Fuel pricing does little to discourage miles driven. Folks I know
in the UK and Sweden that live outside of cities drive just as much.

Just as much as what?

Xho

--
-------------------- http://NewsReader.Com/ --------------------
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the
payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked
advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate
this fact.

On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 13:58:05 -0700, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:


wrote in message
oups.com...
On Nov 3, 12:14 am, sally wrote:
What is the average adult weight in countries with much higher gasoline
prices than the USA? Last time I visited England and Germany, I did not
see
huge numbers of skinny people.

While I don't know enough to comment on the paper mentioned by the OP,
I must say my impression is different than Sally's.

Last time I was in England and Wales, my business colleague and I
remarked on the greater American obesity as soon as we landed, while
we were watching Americans walk around the airport.

I agree with Frank here.

I know that the Brits are concerned about their rising obesity
levels. But I'm pretty sure we're far worse than they are.

And while the Japanese are concerned about their rising obesity levels, the
weekend after we got back from Japan, my husband and I went riding out in
the countryside. We stopped at a small town diner for lunch. We saw more
obese people just in that diner than I saw in two weeks of traveling around
Japan.

Vancouver was used as an example of a walkable city and it has the
lowest obesity rates among Canadian cities.

This may partially be due to our large Asian and SE Asian populations
possibly predisposed to slight structure. Traditional diets too do
not promote obesity. The younger generations though do display a
higher rate of obesity than their parents.

It's also partially due to its proximity mountains and sea for active
recreational pursuits. There's a lot of hiking, biking, kayaking,
skiing, sailing and diving gear sold here. Some is made here.

Sitting at the cafe I see a lot of cyclists and pedestrians. Very few
of them are obese. The people getting out of cars tend to be fatter
than the regulars I see walking and riding by.

I concur that life in the sprawl has put many pounds on many people.
--
zk

Richard Evans wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:

But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

Let's see. I drive 12k per year and get 15mpg from my paid-for 6-cyl
Mazda, using 800 gals per year. At $3/gal that costs me $2,400 per
year.

Gas goes to $10 per gallon and my 800 gals cost $8000.

Or, I trade for a new car that gets 30mpg. I now use 400 gals per
year. At $10, that's $4000, per year. But the new car costs me
(conservatively) about $400 a month for 4-5 years, so in addition to
gas I'm now paying about $4,800 in car payments, for a total of $8,800
per year.

If the new car costs (including interest) $24,000 over five years, and
I save $4k per year in gas, it takes me six years to break even. The
more expensive the new car, the longer the break-even point.

"Sensible", to me, is sticking with a car that's pretty much paid for,
regardless of the cost of gas.

Cars have to be replaced [1] at some point. When you do need a
replacement vehicle, would you get a 2 to 4 ton SUV if gas was $10/gallon?

[1] Or rebuilt, as a cost far higher than the market value after the
rebuild (in most cases).

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Lee Ayrton wrote:
On Sat, 3 Nov 2007, Tom Sherman wrote:

Bill Bonde ( 'Hi ho' ) wrote:
landotter wrote:

In other news, gas is $7/gallon in the UK and they still fry Mars bars.

Think of it this way, if you could afford to drive your 15 mpg SUV at $2
per gallon, you can likely afford to drive a 45 mpg car at $6 a gallon
and a 60 mpg Trotter-mobile at $8. Americans can certainly adjust to
increases in petrol prices.

But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

I'd like to think so and, if history is any guide, some will drive
smaller, more sensible vehicles. A second effect could be a tidal
change away from long commutes, with people living closer to their
workplace. But some Murricans will demand and get higher wages to cover
their higher commute cost, which will inevitably lead to inflation and
an eventual return to something approaching current costs in constant
dollars.

The only US workers that can demand and get higher wages are top
executives, who get paid more and more, irregardless of how well the
company performs. Real wages for everyone else have been dropping for 3+
decades, and will continue to do so.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Blinky the Shark wrote:
Tom Sherman wrote:
Bill Bonde ( 'Hi ho' ) wrote:
landotter wrote:
On Nov 2, 7:56 pm, "Mike Kruger" wrote:
According to a study by Charles Courtemanche
You'd trust a study by a dude with a faggy name like that?

In other news, gas is $7/gallon in the UK and they still fry Mars
bars.

Think of it this way, if you could afford to drive your 15 mpg SUV at
$2 per gallon, you can likely afford to drive a 45 mpg car at $6 a
gallon and a 60 mpg Trotter-mobile at $8. Americans can certainly
adjust to increases in petrol prices.
But at least higher gas prices would get people into smaller, more
sensible vehicles.

yawn Which would only be needed because of those prices.

Similarly, "At least higher cancer rates would get more people into
chemotherapy and radiotherapy."

Must be a SUV driver that likes endangering others with excessive
vehicle mass?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
When did ignorance of biology become a "family value"?

Tom Sherman wrote:


"Sensible", to me, is sticking with a car that's pretty much paid for,
regardless of the cost of gas.

Cars have to be replaced [1] at some point. When you do need a
replacement vehicle, would you get a 2 to 4 ton SUV if gas was $10/gallon?

I wouldn't buy such a vehicle in any case. Even at that, when I do buy
my next car, the cost of gas won't enter into it unless I can find one
that meets my needs in all other respects. My "car" is actually a
compact pickup truck. I've been driving pickups since 1973 and don't
ever plan to buy anything else. When they come out with a small pickup
that does what I want AND gets 30mpg, then we'll talk.