Archives
September 2006
9/30/06
9/30/06
9/29/06
9/29/06
9/29/06
9/29/06
9/29/06
9/28/06
9/28/06
9/28/06
9/28/06
9/28/06
9/28/06
9/27/06
9/27/06
9/27/06
9/27/06
9/27/06
9/26/06
9/26/06
9/26/06
9/26/06
9/26/06
9/25/06
9/25/06
9/25/06
9/25/06
9/25/06
9/24/06
9/24/06
9/23/06
9/23/06
9/22/06
9/22/06
9/22/06
9/22/06
9/22/06
9/21/06
9/21/06
9/21/06
9/21/06
9/21/06
9/20/06
9/20/06
9/20/06
9/20/06
9/20/06
9/19/06
9/19/06
9/19/06
9/19/06
9/19/06
9/18/06
9/18/06
9/18/06
9/18/06
9/18/06
9/17/06
9/16/06
9/16/06
9/15/06
9/15/06
9/14/06
9/14/06
9/14/06
9/14/06
9/13/06
What High Gas Prices?
9/13/06
9/13/06
9/13/06
9/13/06
9/12/06
9/12/06
9/12/06
9/12/06
9/12/06
9/11/06
9/11/06
9/11/06
9/11/06
9/11/06
9/10/06
9/9/06
9/9/06
9/8/06
9/8/06
9/8/06
9/8/06
9/8/06
9/7/06
9/7/06
9/7/06
9/7/06
9/7/06
9/6/06
9/6/06
9/6/06
9/6/06
9/6/06
9/5/06
9/5/06
9/5/06
9/5/06
9/5/06
9/4/06
9/4/06
9/3/06
9/3/06
9/2/06
9/2/06
9/1/06
9/1/06
9/1/06
9/1/06
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
9:28:00 PM EDT
Hearing Code Monkey -- Jonathan Coulton
Gas prices have come down recently -- by about 75 cents where I am -- but they're still well over $2 a gallon. That still seems expensive, but apparently by some measures, it's not:
Nationwide, gas recently averaged around $2.60 a gallon - the inflation-adjusted high in 1980 was around $3.15.
Moreover, in 1980, the average American had to work 105 minutes to buy enough gas to drive the average car 100 miles, according to David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. By 2006, the average American needed to work only 52 minutes, thanks in part to better fuel efficiency but mostly due to higher wages.
"The question is: Why is the U.S. economy handling the oil shock so well this time," asked Beth Ann Bovino, a colleague of Wyss' at S&P. "And the answer is the economy is much different."
Economically I suppose this is true. I still don't like paying as much for gas as I do. I'm willing to believe I'm a bit of a whiner about it. Even so, I like us to move along faster in breaking the oil habit.
What's the cost of gas where you are? Does it seem reasonable to you?
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | 
digg this
9:28:00 PM EDT
Hearing Code Monkey -- Jonathan Coulton
What High Gas Prices?
Gas prices have come down recently -- by about 75 cents where I am -- but they're still well over $2 a gallon. That still seems expensive, but apparently by some measures, it's not:
Nationwide, gas recently averaged around $2.60 a gallon - the inflation-adjusted high in 1980 was around $3.15.
Moreover, in 1980, the average American had to work 105 minutes to buy enough gas to drive the average car 100 miles, according to David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. By 2006, the average American needed to work only 52 minutes, thanks in part to better fuel efficiency but mostly due to higher wages.
"The question is: Why is the U.S. economy handling the oil shock so well this time," asked Beth Ann Bovino, a colleague of Wyss' at S&P. "And the answer is the economy is much different."
Economically I suppose this is true. I still don't like paying as much for gas as I do. I'm willing to believe I'm a bit of a whiner about it. Even so, I like us to move along faster in breaking the oil habit.
What's the cost of gas where you are? Does it seem reasonable to you?
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
This entry has 6 comments: (Add your own)
-
Gas ranged from $2.85 yesterday morning to $2.63, depending on if you were in Chicago, or in the suburbs. A note on the length of time it takes to work for a gallon of gas and the present economy. There is a much greater gap between the wealthy and the poor now, and much less middle class than there was in 1980. Who is really handling this well? Not me, and not most of those I know.
Jude
http://journals.aol.com/jmorancoyle/MyWay -
Monponsett that's unbeleivable! really??
natalie -
It's dropped, but I've paid $4 a gallon on Nantucket as recently as this month.
-
Up here on the lake erie shore, it's usually inbetween $2.33-and $2.39 a gallon. What suprises me is that it's actually been cheaper on weekends, when normally it would rise by quite a bit (usually a jump of at least 10 cents) come friday afternoon.
9/17/06 10:36 AM