Oil prices keep climbing scarily high. I was kind of excited yesterday when I was able to get some gas for $4.19 a gallon instead of the $4.37 they are charging a couple blocks from my house. There is a dearth of articles talking about how the oil prices are only going to go up, up, up! Examples from Slate are: Gas Bubble: Oil is at $100 per Barrel, Get Used to It and Gasoline is Cheap: Four Dollars a Gallon is Outrageous! We Should Be Paying Much More.
Therefore, I was rather excited to find an article today from Fortune (via CNNMoney.com) entitled Why Oil Prices Will Tank that offered some hope against the projected permanent $5 or $10 a gallon gas prices. Whether it turns out to be true or not, at least there is someone who has a decent argument against the spike. The author compares the current state of the oil market to the housing market and has some really good points.
Although it is difficult to have to pay so much more for gas personally, I really worry about people working low-paying jobs who have to commute. Looking at all of the high-priced residential projects that keep popping up in Seattle makes me wonder who is going to be able to afford to live in them. And even if there are enough people to buy all of these condos and the influx of people to the city creates more jobs, a big portion of those jobs will be service oriented and low-paying. Meaning that the people working for $10 an hour in and near the city are more likely to have to commute from a more affordable community.
I'm anxiously awaiting the light rail that is coming in soon. Soon! Maybe? (Better than a monorail. That was a cool idea that seemed more romantic than realistic.)
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