| Does Dogbert understand Fungible? Dilbert © 2006 Scott Adams |
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Dogbert offers an accurate description of “Fungible”, but he asserts that increasing fuel economy (personal or national) has no effect on the price of oil or the revenue of producers. This leads him to conclude that it is pointless to conserve energy. The Logic: Dogbert claims that lower consumption would lead to lower prices, and this in turn would spur increased demand. No argument so far... But he concludes that the increased demand would either increase prices or at least preserve oil profits by offsetting the downward pressure of per capita consumption. His argument fails because, with other factors normalized, the offset of increased demand based upon a price reduction resulting from decreased consumption will not cause an equal price increase. |
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