Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Speeding tickets

[ken rentiers (rentiers]

On Jul 14, 2009, at 9:50 AM, Michael James wrote:

> The real issue, thus, is whether Govt. would actually support or  
> mandate such technology - if you can't 'speed', then they can't  
> issue you a speeding ticket, can they - say goodby to that source  
> of revenue, Govt.!
>
> M

That's an excellent point. Central control never works. And statists  
never seem to learn this. Another source of revenue is drying up as  
well...

from Daily Wealth

Americans are driving less, too. According to USA Today, we're in the  
longest and steepest decline in driving since the invention of the  
automobile. It's even worse than the 1979-80 decline, when the  
Iranian Revolution caused a gigantic spike in gas prices. "We may be  
witnessing the beginning of a fundamental shift in American driving  
habits," says a researcher.

Here's the thing: The transportation industry is the world's most  
important consumer of oil. In the United States, for example,  
transportation accounts for two thirds of total crude oil demand. The  
bust in transportation is killing oil...

"U.S. oil demand remains very, very depressed," says an analyst at  
Macquarie Bank. According his weekly oil data report, transport fuel  
demand in June fell 8.5% in the last 12 months, the steepest decline  
since 1993. "In the U.S., the recession's impact on oil demand is  
still becoming bigger, not smaller," he concludes.

Demand for oil is declining fast... and showing no sign of  
stabilizing. Then there's the supply. It's enormous. There's 35% more  
oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve than average levels over the  
past five years. "Inventories remain off-the-charts high in all  
categories except gasoline," says the Macquarie analyst.

And here's the most important part of this... not only is demand  
collapsing and supplies are growing, but we have the downtrend. Take  
a look: