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The Supply and Demand of Energy and Oil

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Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879. The first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859. Since those two historic discoveries, technology and industry have exponentially grown to a point of absolute necessity today. The requirement of energy and oil throughout the world grows with advancement. As developed countries, like the United States, Japan, China, and Canada, progress and grow in population, more demands for energy and fuel are created. Likewise, as less advanced countries bring themselves into the global economy, they will also have increased energy and oil demands. So then the question begs, where are the resources for these demands coming from and what options will there be for future demands? Given current needs …show more content…

Perceived standards of living will be reduced by lowering thermostats in winter and raising them in the summer. People will reconsider how necessary it is to drive somewhere or buy products affected by the rising oil prices. For example, family trips that had previously been planned for farther away destinations now may be planned for local amusements to cut down on travel cost. This would then have an impact on tourism. Consumers see the influence of oil prices on goods as well. At the grocery store, produce has become more expensive due to shipping costs. This may in turn persuade people to buy more locally grown produce or find substitute foods for what they wanted. This will impact imports from other countries and especially farmers within our own country, since a large part of our agricultural consumption comes from within the United States. These occurrences will have a considerable impact on the economy locally, nationally, and internationally. As energy prices inflate, people will be less willing or able to spend in general because their incomes are not inflating at the same rate, which consequently weakens the national economy. Because the U.S. economy is one of the biggest influences on international economics, this increase in oil price has a ripple effect world-wide. For other countries, the effect of the weakened U.S. economy is combining with similar internally felt economic instabilities, causing economic woes

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