Thus said Jeff Schroeder on Mon, 30 Jan 2006 11:06:38 MST: > While I believe they're using some of their profits to invest in new > technology, always remember they're a business... and the reason > they're in business is to make money. It's a safe bet that ExxonMobil > doesn't want to deliver cheaper gas to us lowly consumers because > they're just a bunch of nice guys-- the only reason they want cheaper > gas is so they can (1) undercut the competition, and (2) increase > their profit margins.
While they are clearly in business to make a profit, one must also consider that in a free market, if the profits become attractive enough, other entrepreneurs will want to profit from the gains and thus provide competitive pricing. This competition will serve to lower prices in general of the commodity in question. It is only when government intervenes by imposing restrictions on output, ``windfall taxes'' or other such market tampering nonsense that the prices will be skewed in favor of the producers. Andy -- [-----------[system uptime]--------------------------------------------] 11:57am up 66 days, 1:25, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00 /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
