Jim, where did you learn your economics, in 2nd grade?
It would appear that a second grader knows more about economics than you do.
If new vehicles all get the most amazing mileage that any vehicle ever has before, then demand for gas goes down. When demand goes down and you have a set amount of product on hand but are still drilling and pumping more all the time because it is unknown how much there really is for the stuff. I am sure in the short term your paranoid fantasy holds some weight as oil men start to panic, but those assholes will just drill less, pump less, and the price will not go too radically up in any short amount of time.
Wrong. Again, you fail to address the economics.
As demand for gas goes down the government will start to feel the pinch. They will raise gas taxes to try to recoup their "losses". This will further drive down demand and increase the supply. Remember the "Luxury Tax" and the effect it had on the aircraft and boating industries? People change their habits when prices go up, especially if they go up due to tax increases.
Remember when all of those tankers were just sitting offshore with their holds filled with oil and gas with nowhere to offload it?
There is only so much space available to store oil and gas. Where do you think most of the gasoline in America is stored? Take a guess. I'd love to see the answer. I could use a good laugh.
I would be willing to bet that a second grader would know the answer.
Regardless of what mileage those cars get, they will only slowly multiply on the roads. I mean who can afford a brand new car these days anyway when people have lost their homes?
I see a lot of new cars on the road as the buying public takes advantage of lower prices caused by the government takeovers of the auto industry. Chrysler and GM are the best buys out there for new cars.
As for yuor contention that people can't afford to buy cars because they are losing their homes -- again you fail second grade economics.
Any second grader can count to 100 and doo simple math. They know that 100 - 5 = 95. Why are those numbers significant? Five is the percentage of mortgages which have defaulted. Ninety-five is the percentage of mortgages still being paid on time.
You want to believe that 5% is a major number when juxtaposed against the whole. ooh! Ooh! Five percent of mortgages are in default so the other 95% can't afford a new car.
f all that I just said happens does actually pan out and happen like that, after the initial panic and hikes those oil men will settle it down and keep feeding it to us. They are the richest most powerful merchants in the world. Do you think they would really do that? If they did, I guarantee you an alternative fuel for existing automobiles would be developed with a quickness!
Trust me. It won't. If there were a viable alternative fuel available to run this nation it would already be being sold to us -- by Texaco, Chevron, Shell, BP, Conoco, Phillips, Exxon, Sinclair, et al.
These "Power Merchants" and oil men did not get rich by jumping off of bandwagons. If they had it, they would already be selling it to dupes like you.