[ricechex]

Originally Posted by qprogeny79

ceos deserve every penny of what they get, especially in the oil industry. anyone who can lead his company to turn a profit in the hellish environment of gas taxes, environmental prohibitions on drilling, bureaucratic impediments to refinery construction, heterogeneous interstate requirements on fuel blends, importation from foreign cartels of producers who set prices at will, insane political volatility in virtually every major oil-exporting nation, etc. -- let alone become the most profitable company in the nation -- must be a serious genius.

oh, they're "managing" a profit alright...hee. How dio they do it? kinda sheds a light on just how binding those unfair, bureaucratic, red tape, regulation, impedments r.(WTF??).... i'm sure $3/gallon, up 2x from only a couple short years ago, doesn't hurt either..

[qprogeny79]

but even if they did raise prices partially for the purpose of raising their profit margin, so what? it's not like guns are being held to our heads when we fill up the tanks.

[nature scene]

Isn't it interesting that we dislike companies for doing well but not when they fail?

It seems apparent to me that the supply and demand for a product is the driving force behind it's price. As the supply of the world's oil decreases, prices for crude oil rise. If oil prices rise, a higher cost is imposed on the companies that refine oil and sell the products. But cost of inputs into a product do not necessarily determine the price... that is a theory full of holes.

But if costs do have some impact on price, the greater factor is still demand. Why are prices rising so much? Well, there are a wide variety of reasons, but one I find very compelling is that the demand is greater. India and China have huge populations, and they are just now starting to mobilize productive economies in order to become world players. In order to do so, they need energy, and thus oil products. Since there are now many more oil consumers on the earth but still the same (declining) amount of oil, prices will naturally go up. We compete against other consumers and bid up the prices by doing so.

At the same time, oil companies lobby heavily for tax breaks and other government protection, limiting the competition within the oil industry. This also keeps oil prices higher than they could be.

[ricechex]

not really. only if there is a benign reason for doing well.

no one likes a scammer except some of these right wingers who, God knows why, fight for "the man"..

[ricechex]

i'm 100% sure if Enron's Skilling and Ken Lay did NOT go down, and they were still at the top facing heat from the public and the left, there would be right wing nitwit GW lovers defending them.. for some insane idealogical reasons, i guess. maybe they still do, but...

but that's what i'm talking about.

[nature scene]

But failure is never benign, ricechex. A failed business is a lost opportunity to utilize resources in a productive manner, and thus adding to society. We don't "win" when a company suffers.

[nature scene]

Well, I think you're right about that. There are ideological people who vote the party line and protect "business" or other things.... on all sides of the spectrum. The Enron guys were criminals plain and simple. But it's time to stop harping on Enron. They don't represent all business or corporations.


Exxon's profits are far lower per dollar sold than companies like McDonald's and Coca Cola. Just because they have the biggest profits doesn't mean they have the biggest profit margin.

[nature scene]

In my personal opinion the 400 mil retirement package is ridiculous. I could think of lots of things I would rather do with the money. But it's not my money.