no offense Sky, but can you name one instance where a Boycott actually accomplished this? I think not, this concept has already been debunked by a number of economists

Here are the facts:

1. Exxon-Mobile's profit margin is 4 percent. Even if you could affect their sales, they have no real room to lower prices, they would simply reduce operations and lay people off.
2, Exxon does not control the price of world oil. THAT IS WHAT DRIVES THE PRICE AT THE PUMP. IF OIL GOES UP EXXON LIKE EVERY BUSINESS MUST PASS THE COST ON TO THE CONSUMER- ECON 101
3. Our car companies were awash with profits from Americans being dumb and buying SUVs. Where was the investment in Hybrids at that time? They had access to the same projections that Honda and Toyota had in the mid nineties. Now the Japanese companies are rolling in profits and our big three can barely tread water at this point.
4. I have seen the talk regarding the American Dream, and I i think Kim is right, we cannot live as our parents and grandparents lived, the world's resources cannot sustain a wasteful lifestyle. The pain at the pump is the canary in the mineshaft, a distant warning. that we really need to transform our social and economic structure to a new reality.

Mods, please close this thread, this will be an endless political debate, that will get ugly if it keeps going.