Hi Everyone,
Way back when, while I was in college, I took 3 economic courses. During my freshman year, the first course that I took was economics 101. It was during that course that I learned about the fundamental concept of supply and demand. It is a relatively easy concept to understand.
Demand: refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price. The relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship.
Supply: represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price therefore is a reflection of supply and demand.
So that is what I learned so long ago; about supply and demand and how this fundamental concept has been around for a very long time. Until now that is. Over the last decade, orange juice consumption has dropped a whopping 40%. So you would think that since demand has fallen and supplies increased, the price would drop. Not so fast. When was the last time OJ prices dropped? The prices have not fallen, but have actually risen. So what do you do in this day and age if demand is down and supplies are up? In this day and age, that means charging more for the product. Isn't it obvious that the higher prices of OJ is more about greed than about supply and demand. I am not surprised about this turning against a fundamental concept in order to make more money. Greed certainly rules here and common sense is again either tossed out the window or is totally ignored, which hurts us the consumer.
So today's supply and demand concept no longer means what it used to.
Til next week.
Peter
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Tooting My Own Horn
Hi Everyone,
For those of you who don't know, I am the original owner of a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport CL. It has 33 out of 38 options and is still a dream to drive, just like when it was new. But what my car is not, is a muscle car. It was built for high gas mileage and luxury. Through all of the last 28 years, I have somehow managed to keep the car in excellent condition. Actually it is in show condition and going to car shows is what I do with the car. FYI, it has not been a daily driver for over 11 years.
I have been showing the car for 15 years, long before you stopped seeing them on the road. Now when I show it, there are always people who come over to talk to me about my car. Almost all the people either had a similar car or knew someone who did. People tell me that when they go to car shows they expect to see, mustangs, vettes, 57 chevys, camaros, road runners, chargers and cudas, etc., etc., but they never expect to see a celebrity. They all rave about what a great car it was and what a surprise to see one in such great condition at a car show. But it is when they learn how many miles are on it that they are really surprised. My car has over 300,000 miles on it and it still looks almost new. When I talk to other car owners, it is not unusual for classic cars to change hands 3,4,5 or more times since it was new. So if the car was already in show condition, the new owners are just maintaining what prior owners did to the car. But I have taken care of this car for 28 years and have kept it show condition. People can and do really appreciate that fact.
For all the years I have been attending car shows, I never expect to win to any trophies for multiple reasons: it is a 1986, it is a celebrity and it has 300,000 miles. All those are strikes against me for winning anything. For the past 5 years or so, the newest form of collecting cars is what is called a survivor car. It will have original paint, rust is common and it runs. My car is not a survivor car since it was repainted, (due to a GM recall) when it was 6 years old. So I always joke with people that they should give trophies for highest mileage / best looking car. But of course, there is no such award.
Last night, my wife and I attended a local car show. There were approximately 50 or so cars there. Most of the cars were from the 60's and 70's and there were only 2 cars from the 80's. When the trophies were being awarded there was a Judge's favorite 4 cars category. The Judge named the first 3 favorite cars and they were the usual type of winning cars. Then the 4th car number was called. Both my wife and the car owner next to me told me that I had won. The first thing I did was check my number to make sure and sure enough, I had won. I was stunned, excited and couldn't believe it. The Judge was highly impressed on how well an original owner had taken care of a 28 year old car with over 300,000 miles on it.
Although I know I will never win best of show, I used to say that I owned a classic car but now I can honestly say that I own a classic trophy car. Now my ego isn't so big that the trophy will sit on our mantle. But that trophy will always be with the car when I go to other shows.
My horn has been tooted.
Til next week.
Peter
For those of you who don't know, I am the original owner of a 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport CL. It has 33 out of 38 options and is still a dream to drive, just like when it was new. But what my car is not, is a muscle car. It was built for high gas mileage and luxury. Through all of the last 28 years, I have somehow managed to keep the car in excellent condition. Actually it is in show condition and going to car shows is what I do with the car. FYI, it has not been a daily driver for over 11 years.
I have been showing the car for 15 years, long before you stopped seeing them on the road. Now when I show it, there are always people who come over to talk to me about my car. Almost all the people either had a similar car or knew someone who did. People tell me that when they go to car shows they expect to see, mustangs, vettes, 57 chevys, camaros, road runners, chargers and cudas, etc., etc., but they never expect to see a celebrity. They all rave about what a great car it was and what a surprise to see one in such great condition at a car show. But it is when they learn how many miles are on it that they are really surprised. My car has over 300,000 miles on it and it still looks almost new. When I talk to other car owners, it is not unusual for classic cars to change hands 3,4,5 or more times since it was new. So if the car was already in show condition, the new owners are just maintaining what prior owners did to the car. But I have taken care of this car for 28 years and have kept it show condition. People can and do really appreciate that fact.
For all the years I have been attending car shows, I never expect to win to any trophies for multiple reasons: it is a 1986, it is a celebrity and it has 300,000 miles. All those are strikes against me for winning anything. For the past 5 years or so, the newest form of collecting cars is what is called a survivor car. It will have original paint, rust is common and it runs. My car is not a survivor car since it was repainted, (due to a GM recall) when it was 6 years old. So I always joke with people that they should give trophies for highest mileage / best looking car. But of course, there is no such award.
Last night, my wife and I attended a local car show. There were approximately 50 or so cars there. Most of the cars were from the 60's and 70's and there were only 2 cars from the 80's. When the trophies were being awarded there was a Judge's favorite 4 cars category. The Judge named the first 3 favorite cars and they were the usual type of winning cars. Then the 4th car number was called. Both my wife and the car owner next to me told me that I had won. The first thing I did was check my number to make sure and sure enough, I had won. I was stunned, excited and couldn't believe it. The Judge was highly impressed on how well an original owner had taken care of a 28 year old car with over 300,000 miles on it.
Although I know I will never win best of show, I used to say that I owned a classic car but now I can honestly say that I own a classic trophy car. Now my ego isn't so big that the trophy will sit on our mantle. But that trophy will always be with the car when I go to other shows.
My horn has been tooted.
Til next week.
Peter
Sunday, July 6, 2014
This Solution May be a Win - Win
Hi Everyone,
The southern mid-west of this country and all the way to the west coast, has been in a severe drought for some time now. Even the snow pack totals in northern California has been a lot less then usual for years. Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future, there are no different weather patterns, consequently the drought will continue for who knows how long. But, while large parts of this country are in a drought, the north and south pole glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to global warming. The direct result of which is that the ocean levels are rising and will eventually threaten all coastal cities around the world.
As to why global warming is happening is not the subject of today's blog. Today's blog is about a solution to both the drought and rising ocean level problems. I think that a common sense solution would be to build a whole lot of desalination plants along the west coast and if need be, where ever they are needed. The desalination plants could definitely supply the much needed fresh water. But, in addition, depending on how many plants are built worldwide, they could conceivably keep the ocean levels at bay or at the very least, could postpone the threat to coastal cities. Sounds far fetched, but it just might work. The toughest part of this idea is building the tens or hundreds of thousands of miles needed for the pipelines.
Unfortunately, time is not on our side. In order for something this big to happen, countries would need to make a leap of faith and begin the projects sooner rather than later. Even though building the plants would take years, it is the building of the infrastructure that will take many more years. That's why time will eventually be against us all and why forward thinking will be a necessity.
Just some food for thought.
Til next week.
Peter
The southern mid-west of this country and all the way to the west coast, has been in a severe drought for some time now. Even the snow pack totals in northern California has been a lot less then usual for years. Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future, there are no different weather patterns, consequently the drought will continue for who knows how long. But, while large parts of this country are in a drought, the north and south pole glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to global warming. The direct result of which is that the ocean levels are rising and will eventually threaten all coastal cities around the world.
As to why global warming is happening is not the subject of today's blog. Today's blog is about a solution to both the drought and rising ocean level problems. I think that a common sense solution would be to build a whole lot of desalination plants along the west coast and if need be, where ever they are needed. The desalination plants could definitely supply the much needed fresh water. But, in addition, depending on how many plants are built worldwide, they could conceivably keep the ocean levels at bay or at the very least, could postpone the threat to coastal cities. Sounds far fetched, but it just might work. The toughest part of this idea is building the tens or hundreds of thousands of miles needed for the pipelines.
Unfortunately, time is not on our side. In order for something this big to happen, countries would need to make a leap of faith and begin the projects sooner rather than later. Even though building the plants would take years, it is the building of the infrastructure that will take many more years. That's why time will eventually be against us all and why forward thinking will be a necessity.
Just some food for thought.
Til next week.
Peter
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