The logical way to measure the impact of gas prices on your budget is to calculate the per-mile cost of driving rather than the per-gallon cost of fuel.
By that measure, current gas prices aren’t quite as burdensome as some people think they are. Today’s cars will take you farther on a gallon of gas than did the cars of 30 years ago.
This isn’t to say that we don’t have a right to whine about pump prices. Such complaining is a great American tradition, and nothing can dissuade us from indulging it. But let’s not pretend that there’s a lot our politicians of either party can do to bring those prices down. For example, our elected officials can’t do anything about the higher demand for fuel in China and India, which has a greater effect on prices than our domestic energy policies.
Anyway, we’re deceiving ourselves if we think that the cost of a gallon of gas today is as bad as a similar inflation-adjusted price was just a few decades ago.
Syndicated columnist Froma Harrop has an interesting piece on this subject HERE.
UPDATE: By the way, the money-changers in the temples of Wall Street are FIGHTING a new rule that would limit speculation in oil markets, which is a principal cause of higher gas prices.
