May, 11, 2008
Weak dollar is raising gas prices
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THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
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Here is a pop quiz.
Which of the following companies has the highest profit margin? ExxonMobil. Microsoft. Wells Fargo. Coca Cola.
Johnson & Johnson. If you guessed ExxonMobil, you guessed wrong. Actually, Microsoft has the highest profit margin of this group: 28.3 percent. Exxon Mobil has the lowest profit margin of these, at 9.7 percent (Coca Cola is 20.6 percent, Wells Fargo is 19.3 percent, and Johnson & Johnson is 18.6 percent).
There are many things that go into the high gasoline prices we’ve seen lately, but oil company profit is not one of them. Oil company profit margins have been more or less steady over the last few years.
If one is looking for a major scapegoat, look no further than to our own federal government. The feds have been significantly devaluing our currency. When compared to the Euro, the devaluation of the U.S. dollar accounts for 80 percent of the rise in gasoline price over the last year.
Rick Maricle
Bellingham
