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Friday, November 28, 2008

It's the Stupid, Economy


About three months ago, my wife got a letter from one of her credit card companies LOWERING her available credit. Understand that she always pays on time. This is so contrary to what had been happening for the past decade or more, where they kept upping her available credit to absurdist levels; i.e., greater than her gross annual salary.

Now, last week, I got a letter from one of my credit card companies. They noted that I had not used the card in 24 months, which was true. In the olden days, i.e., last year, they would have sent me checks to write against the account. Instead, though, they CANCELLED the card. This is NOT a complaint, BTW, just an observation, since I too have more available credit than income.

Meanwhile, gas is going down, but not at the same rates. While the Mobil station nearest my house has that traditional dime's difference between the various levels (on Monday, $2.199, $2.299, $2.399), a couple other Mobil stations in Albany were $2.199, $2.659, $2.699. I don't begin to understand pricing for this stuff, but I am fascinated that it could be so different within the same city limits.
or here.
The State University of New York is raising tuition, largely as a result of the state budget crisis; apparently, the state government can't print money to spend its way out of its crisis as the feds can. Since two of my alma maters were SUNY schools (New Paltz and Albany), I'm interested in noting that the result of this is an INCREASE in the number of people who want to attend college. Do they figure they might as well go to school in hopes that things will be better when they get out?

ROG

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I find it strange too how much gas prices can fluctuate. The stations in our city of residence are usually $0.15 to $0.20 more a gallon then surrounding cities, and it's not like there are a bunch of rich people living in our city.

I get a good look at many on my way to work every morning, so I usually know where to go before I need to fill up. I have also noticed by doing this that one station will be the lowest price for a couple of weeks, even as they and every other station drop their price. Then for the next couple of weeks it will be another station always having the lowest price.

I am just glad to see things dropping. A good portion of the stations I pass are all now below $1.90 for the low grade. I certainly hope it stays under $2.00 for a long time, but I am not banking on it.