gas not actually expensive

[nibot]

Somehow I got the idea of searching for inflation-adjusted historical gasoline prices, and I found this.

Comments

[anemone.livejournal.com]

Gas is $3.39 this morning at a nearby gas station. Now, the absolute price is not so interesting, but yesterday, the price was $3.09, and the day before that,it was under $3. Even if the average price today is not out of line with historical averages, the change is price is quite disturbing.

[nibot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the hurricane will definitely do something spectacular to energy prices. Nonetheless, I'm tired of people complaining about pre-hurricane gasoline prices.

[easwaran.livejournal.com]

Notice that the "not actually expensive" price is the most expensive it's been in 50 years except a brief spike around 1980. Not to mention that cars are at their least fuel-efficient since some time briefly before that spike, so it's possible that filling up tanks is now more expensive than it ever has been, even in real dollars.

Note also that the general trend line is down from 1920 to 1997 or so, and now it's up. Though maybe this is just a spike like the one in the late '70s.