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A comment on In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling New Cars. Parent comment

Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by dasil003 on Friday October 25, 2013 @05:08PM (#6614656)
> Raising taxes on these people is not going to change their behavior in any meaningful way. A few extra cents, or even an extra half dollar is gas taxes is going to be a lower cost to them than uprooting their life and moving within biking distance.

GP said EU levels, so it's not a few cents or "even" a half dollar. It's straight up doubling or tripling gas prices. This would no doubt impose a lot of hardship on people, and there might well be significant political upheaval in the process, but if you think it wouldn't change behavior and the suburban sprawl problem then you don't realize how inelastic people's income really is.

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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by CalRobert on Friday October 25, 2013 @06:34PM (#6615131)
Breathing exhaust imposes hardship on me and everyone else, but no one seems to care about that.
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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by dasil003 on Friday October 25, 2013 @09:43PM (#6615865)
I care about it, I'm a cycle commuter breathing more exhaust than average.
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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by smutticus on Friday October 25, 2013 @06:52PM (#6615226)
I regret I have but one upvote to give you, sir.
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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by gggmaster on Saturday October 26, 2013 @02:05AM (#6616551)
So we should encourage commute with bicycles.
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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by dwhly on Saturday October 26, 2013 @08:05AM (#6617111)
> how inelastic people's income really is.

I think you mean "how inelastic the demand for gas is in the face of higher prices".

Of course people's income is fixed in this equation. Though I suppose you might try to earn more if gas prices go up.

What you're trying to say is that demand for gasoline is inelastic in the face of higher prices. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_elasticity_of_demand

And here's a bit on gasoline... http://economics.about.com/od/priceelasticityofdemand/a/gaso...

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Re:In Almost Every European Country, Bikes Are Outselling Ne... by dasil003 on Sunday October 27, 2013 @11:28AM (#6622207)
I am emphatically not trying to say that.
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