Quote: Gas prices rose nearly two cents over the past two weeks, to a record high of $3.02 per gallon of self-serve regular, a national survey reported Sunday… But, adjusted for inflation, Sunday's price remains 15 cents lower than what it was in March 1981, she added. http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/23/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes

I have a lot of trouble with the $.15 cheaper claim:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/gasprices/FAQ.shtml

Their table shows 1980 gasoline at:

$1.25 -> $2.30 (in 2000 dollars)

Unless we've had some pretty serious, compounded inflation, we're no where near $.15 cheaper. That is some pretty curious math.

Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me:

crazy "fuzzy math" I couldn't quite understand it either. What has the annual inflaction been since 1980? I think the editor is off significantly.

One of the guys I work with asked me if I feel like a fool yet for buying a cornstove. His reasoning being costs of natural gas being "currently" so low. I feel pretty good still. We'll see what the hurricane season brings and how much demand will go up for natural gas this year. I'm sure corn will still be about $150.00 a ton regardless of what the price of natural gas is.

Seems like the inflation adjusted gas price over time is different at every site I find.

I googled "Gas price inflation graph" and found other government sites that had significantly different numbers than the one you posted Bob.

Here's Oregon, which claims '81 and '82 annually averages just under $3.

http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/gasol.htm

This one puts March '81 at $2.75.

http://zfacts.com/p/35.html

Here's one that shows % of available household income spent on gasoline. The curve looks a lot like the Oregon data.

http://agoraphilia.blogspot.com/2006...-gasoline.html

This one individual takes a different approach adjusting all dollars to april 1979 and is this persons actual price paid over the last 27 years, now that's dedication.

http://www.randomuseless.info/gasprice/gasprice.html

Oh, how I wish we got $3.02 in Connecticut. I think the cheapest I've seen in the past few weeks, is around $3.18. A trip 2 weeks ago over the border to Rhode Island, and I found FULL SERVICE for $2.92, but that was 2 weeks ago- not sure what it is now.

Now if only I could get my FE up high enough to make the hour drive worth it. LOL.

From Quincy, Illinois:
Regular gas 3.159 per gallon on 7/25.

<AHEM!>Are there no good sea food restaurants in Rhode Island? Are there no discount drug stores? Don't they sell beef jerky? (search the archives if confused)

Bob Wilson

After April 3, use e-mail to contact me:

The higher the better !! Higher prices mean less demand, more people carpooling and using public transit, cleaner air in the future and fewer gas hogs being sold.

Go Go GO GAS PRICES !!!! GET ON UP THAR !!!!

Up to a point - I agree.

We NEED to find alternative means for fueling our fuel-hungry economy. It's great that higher gas-pump prices are making more folks consider more fuel-efficient autos, but that's only part of the story.

All fuel-related costs go up when the price of a barrel of oil go up.
Manufacturing costs are among them, translating into higher prices for us all.
I can (barely ) afford it, but many lower-income families are squeezed horribly by ever-increasing oil prices. Food costs go up as delivery costs for that food go up. It's a spiraling thing.

What we SHOULD do (years ago) is to raise the TAX on a gallon of gas, similar to what is done in many other coutries. That has the same effect for folks considering more fule-efficient autos, without killing our economy with truly much higher costs of doing business.
My 2 cents.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

@bwilson4web: I don't think I have to search, to know what you mean. Yeah, I could find other excuses to drive out to RI, but, I typically stick to my little section of the woods. Of course, if I think of any reasons to travel out that way, I'll be sure not to fill up before-hand.

@lars-ss: You do have a point, and to add to that, the higher the gas prices go, the quicker my car will pay for its extra premium over then non-hybrid, but they are going up and up and up all the time. I had to fill up my bike tonight- Premium was $3.599 (Gotta put premium in my bike) and Regular was $3.39. Of course, this was one of the more expensive stations in the town I was in, as it was right by the highway.

@Gumby: Raise taxes More? I'm not exactly sure what CT is charging for taxes, but I believe it's something like 25-30 cents on the dollar. Someone at work was telling me a while back, that there was a station owner in his town that actually posted a sign on his pumps, showing how much was going to federal tax, and how much was going to state tax. I guess it was only up for about 2-3 weeks, because someone came along (not sure who), and told him he had to take it down immediately. He ended up taking them down on the spot.

If the government does decide to raise taxes more and more on gasoline, then they need to show something for it - invest it into lower-faire public transportation, invest it into research and development in clean energy, something like that. Too many times, our state governments raise taxes and fees on all sorts of things, and then blow it like it was just petty cash. They really need to start returning something to the people, for the trouble they put us through - you know, "No taxation, without representation".

- Mo