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NEW YORK (AP) -- A summer road trip may not be such a bad idea after all.
Gasoline prices are falling fast. In the past 7 weeks, the average U.S. retail prices has dropped 38 cents to $3.60 per gallon. Another 25-cent drop is expected by mid-July.
When prices approached $4 in early May, drivers were worried that $5 gasoline was a possibility this summer. But since then, oil prices have collapsed, the result of slowing economic growth in developed countries, weaker demand for oil and gas and this week's decision by the U.S. and other countries to release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves. Economists say falling prices will benefit consumers by leaving money in their wallets, and making them feel freer to spend on travel, shopping and dining.
Ron Meyers, 51, a handyman from Little Rock, Ark., was doubtful that he could afford the drive to visit family in Pennsylvania. Now, thanks to cheaper gas, the trip is on. And he plans on seeing a few more summer movies, too.
"You can go out and have a good time, and have a little money left in your pocket," he said.
Economists say that while, for instance, a 25-cent-per-gallon drop only saves the typical driver $12.50 per month, it has a huge effect both on the economy as a whole and on the psychology of consumers.
Naveen Agarwal, who helps small businesses and car companies manage fuel costs as CEO of Pricelock, in Redwood City, Calif, said he expects drivers will travel farther distances this summer than originally planned. And they'll spend as they go.
"They'll be a little bit more liberal about their consumption instead of just having a barbeque in their back yard," Agarwal said.
Instead of thinking of ways to cut back, the Dykstra family of Orange City, Iowa, will now be able to spend a little more on meals and souvenirs when it visits Chicago.
"We actually budgeted for $5 a gallon," Mark Dykstra, 46, a supermarket assistant manager who will be travelling with his three teenage children, said earlier this week.
For the first five months of the year, gasoline prices went in one direction: up. Growing economies, especially in Asia, burned more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa prevented oil from reaching the market and scared oil traders into bidding prices higher.
Oil peaked at $114 per barrel in April. It's now at $91 per barrel after a 2 percent drop this week.
Energy economists and Wall Street investment bankers caution that oil is likely to rise above $100 again next year, particularly if oil producers struggle to meet rising global demand. Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico or further unrest in the Middle East could also boost prices.
Agarwal expects gasoline prices will return to a range of $3.50 to $3.75 per gallon by the end of the year. Goldman Sachs and other investment banks predict oil will rebound next year to levels that would push gasoline above $4 for the first time since 2008.
"If you're asking whether gasoline could be $3.50 or higher forever, the answer is yes," said oil analyst Andrew Lipow. "People will have to make some adjustments."
Adzi Vokhiwa, 22, of Acworth, Ga., is relieved by the price drop, but skeptical. "It almost doesn't matter because I know (prices) are going to go back up again," she said.
She commutes 60 miles a day from her home in Acworth, Ga. to her job in downtown Atlanta. Twice a week she puts $40 worth of gasoline into her Kia Soul, and has asked her boss to change her schedule so she can carpool a couple of days a week.
High gasoline prices have made it tougher for Vokhiwa to save for graduate school. But for now, at least, she says she'll have a little more money to put towards that goal.
Randy Herring, 46, of Montpelier, Vt. had been borrowing his wife's Subaru Legacy instead of driving his Chevy Tahoe SUV and he had even contemplated pulling out his bicycle. Now he's employing a strategy to capitalize on the falling prices. He's started to give the Tahoe the equivalent of a sip of gasoline every so often so he doesn't miss out on the coming savings.
"Whatever I need for the week, and that's it," Herring said.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- A summer road trip may not be such a bad idea after all.
Gasoline prices are falling fast. In the past 7 weeks, the average U.S. retail prices has dropped 38 cents to $3.60 per gallon. Another 25-cent drop is expected by mid-July.
When prices approached $4 in early May, drivers were worried that $5 gasoline was a possibility this summer. But since then, oil prices have collapsed, the result of slowing economic growth in developed countries, weaker demand for oil and gas and this week's decision by the U.S. and other countries to release 60 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves. Economists say falling prices will benefit consumers by leaving money in their wallets, and making them feel freer to spend on travel, shopping and dining.
Ron Meyers, 51, a handyman from Little Rock, Ark., was doubtful that he could afford the drive to visit family in Pennsylvania. Now, thanks to cheaper gas, the trip is on. And he plans on seeing a few more summer movies, too.
"You can go out and have a good time, and have a little money left in your pocket," he said.
Economists say that while, for instance, a 25-cent-per-gallon drop only saves the typical driver $12.50 per month, it has a huge effect both on the economy as a whole and on the psychology of consumers.
Naveen Agarwal, who helps small businesses and car companies manage fuel costs as CEO of Pricelock, in Redwood City, Calif, said he expects drivers will travel farther distances this summer than originally planned. And they'll spend as they go.
"They'll be a little bit more liberal about their consumption instead of just having a barbeque in their back yard," Agarwal said.
Instead of thinking of ways to cut back, the Dykstra family of Orange City, Iowa, will now be able to spend a little more on meals and souvenirs when it visits Chicago.
"We actually budgeted for $5 a gallon," Mark Dykstra, 46, a supermarket assistant manager who will be travelling with his three teenage children, said earlier this week.
For the first five months of the year, gasoline prices went in one direction: up. Growing economies, especially in Asia, burned more gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa prevented oil from reaching the market and scared oil traders into bidding prices higher.
Oil peaked at $114 per barrel in April. It's now at $91 per barrel after a 2 percent drop this week.
Energy economists and Wall Street investment bankers caution that oil is likely to rise above $100 again next year, particularly if oil producers struggle to meet rising global demand. Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico or further unrest in the Middle East could also boost prices.
Agarwal expects gasoline prices will return to a range of $3.50 to $3.75 per gallon by the end of the year. Goldman Sachs and other investment banks predict oil will rebound next year to levels that would push gasoline above $4 for the first time since 2008.
"If you're asking whether gasoline could be $3.50 or higher forever, the answer is yes," said oil analyst Andrew Lipow. "People will have to make some adjustments."
Adzi Vokhiwa, 22, of Acworth, Ga., is relieved by the price drop, but skeptical. "It almost doesn't matter because I know (prices) are going to go back up again," she said.
She commutes 60 miles a day from her home in Acworth, Ga. to her job in downtown Atlanta. Twice a week she puts $40 worth of gasoline into her Kia Soul, and has asked her boss to change her schedule so she can carpool a couple of days a week.
High gasoline prices have made it tougher for Vokhiwa to save for graduate school. But for now, at least, she says she'll have a little more money to put towards that goal.
Randy Herring, 46, of Montpelier, Vt. had been borrowing his wife's Subaru Legacy instead of driving his Chevy Tahoe SUV and he had even contemplated pulling out his bicycle. Now he's employing a strategy to capitalize on the falling prices. He's started to give the Tahoe the equivalent of a sip of gasoline every so often so he doesn't miss out on the coming savings.
"Whatever I need for the week, and that's it," Herring said.
President Obama on Friday announced a new $500 million manufacturing initiative.
In a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, he launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, "a national effort to bring together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that will create high quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness," as described by the White House.
This is the administration's second manufacturing-focused plan this month. At the beginning of June, President Obama moved to expand the "industry-led worker-training program" Skill for America's Future, reports The Hill.
These programs have undoubtedly been established to help achieve Obama's lofty goal of creating 2 million jobs by doubling exports by 2015.
But a new report by the U.S. Business Industry Council, titled "High Import Penetration Keeps Growth and Hiring Down," asserts that the country's chief executive is "missing a big opportunity to speed up economic recovery by limiting his trade-related growth initiatives to boosting U.S. exports". The report makes the case that the gains possible from better import controls would have a much greater effect on the economy.
Alan Tonelson, research fellow at the USBIC and author of the report, joined Aaron and Henry to discuss the President's new half-billion dollar push to rebuild America's wilted manufacturing base.
"This new policy initiative is not only sorely inadequate in terms of the scale of the problem," he says, referring to the $700 billion manufacturing trade deficit. "But, much of this is beside the point because the President keeps ignoring…the big issue that is facing America's domestic manufacturing base: It is being forced to compete in a world full of markets that are rigged against it."
Tonelson, also the author of Race to the Bottom, says what this country needs is "outside the box thinking," including enacting tariffs on foreign-made goods.
"American trade policy has to get smart, it has to get tough and it has to be maybe a little bit ruthless [and] it has to go into an eye for an eye mode," he says.
Opponents of such trade barriers say this would cause the price of many imported goods to rise substantially; Tonelson does not agree.
"Economics teaches us that if the price differential is that great, and in many instances it surely is, then bringing the work back home will create more employment back home at higher wages," he says. "Should we keep on focusing on giving American consumers cheap goods which they often can't pay for anyway because they do have not jobs? Or should we focus on creating more and higher-wage employment at home? Restricting imports will give you that latter result."
Did A summer road trip may not be such a bad idea after all?
In a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, he launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, "a national effort to bring together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in the emerging technologies that will create high quality manufacturing jobs and enhance our global competitiveness," as described by the White House.
This is the administration's second manufacturing-focused plan this month. At the beginning of June, President Obama moved to expand the "industry-led worker-training program" Skill for America's Future, reports The Hill.
These programs have undoubtedly been established to help achieve Obama's lofty goal of creating 2 million jobs by doubling exports by 2015.
But a new report by the U.S. Business Industry Council, titled "High Import Penetration Keeps Growth and Hiring Down," asserts that the country's chief executive is "missing a big opportunity to speed up economic recovery by limiting his trade-related growth initiatives to boosting U.S. exports". The report makes the case that the gains possible from better import controls would have a much greater effect on the economy.
Alan Tonelson, research fellow at the USBIC and author of the report, joined Aaron and Henry to discuss the President's new half-billion dollar push to rebuild America's wilted manufacturing base.
"This new policy initiative is not only sorely inadequate in terms of the scale of the problem," he says, referring to the $700 billion manufacturing trade deficit. "But, much of this is beside the point because the President keeps ignoring…the big issue that is facing America's domestic manufacturing base: It is being forced to compete in a world full of markets that are rigged against it."
Tonelson, also the author of Race to the Bottom, says what this country needs is "outside the box thinking," including enacting tariffs on foreign-made goods.
"American trade policy has to get smart, it has to get tough and it has to be maybe a little bit ruthless [and] it has to go into an eye for an eye mode," he says.
Opponents of such trade barriers say this would cause the price of many imported goods to rise substantially; Tonelson does not agree.
"Economics teaches us that if the price differential is that great, and in many instances it surely is, then bringing the work back home will create more employment back home at higher wages," he says. "Should we keep on focusing on giving American consumers cheap goods which they often can't pay for anyway because they do have not jobs? Or should we focus on creating more and higher-wage employment at home? Restricting imports will give you that latter result."
Did A summer road trip may not be such a bad idea after all?
A. TRUE
B. FALSE
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