Are the normies noticing rising gas prices yet? Gas is at a multi-year high price.

[wdb]

(Three pages of politics? Sheesh, mods.)

Oil prices are rising because the Saudis ended their price war. It has nothing whatsoever to do with whatever poor sap is in the White House. (And it didn't work very well.)

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by slowmover

Gas demand is inelastic due to the geography of housing, marriage pattern; and work locations.

Not so. There's a fairly firm short-term* base demand from those things, but on top of that there's a large recreational demand. Take a 500 mile road trip, go "camping" in your 40 ft RV, run your ORVs, power boats, and all the other gas-using toys? No one has to do those things.



*Which is elastic over the long term.

[MetroMPG]

The normies have arrived. Today, Consumer Reports posted a "gas savings tips" article. (Coincidentally, today oil also hit prices not seen since 2014.)

Motorists face rising gasoline prices as the summer travel season gets underway, so fuel efficiency is as important as ever.

https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel...l-economy-now/

(But "important as ever"? The general public hasn't really cared about fuel economy for going on 3 years!)

It's a solid article. I like that they lay out the cost of speeding as item number one. In terms of consumption...

Overall, speeding up from 55 mph to 75 is like moving from a compact car to a large SUV.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Not so. There's a fairly firm short-term* base demand from those things, but on top of that there's a large recreational demand. Take a 500 mile road trip, go "camping" in your 40 ft RV, run your ORVs, power boats, and all the other gas-using toys? No one has to do those things.



*Which is elastic over the long term.

You’re ignoring the elephant in the living room. The people who built America’s cities were driven out of them by 1970. Post-war sprawl didn’t mean much till then. Post-1970 it exploded. The completion of the Interstate system circa 1972 made it possible. As Jim Kunstler notes, since then the greatest waste of resources in human history.

Public transportation still sufficed up till 1970. One car families. Choices possible.

Today it’s every adult with a car, for the most part. By necessity, not choice.

Vacationing, etc, doesn’t mean much.

.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The normies have arrived. Today, Consumer Reports posted a "gas savings tips" article. (Coincidentally, today oil also hit prices not seen since 2014.)

https://www.consumerreports.org/fuel...l-economy-now/

(But "important as ever"? The general public hasn't really cared about fuel economy for going on 3 years!)

It's a solid article. I like that they lay out the cost of speeding as item number one. In terms of consumption...

Important as ever, as that's the only way to address the normies if you want to change their behavior. This is the norm, better comply!
Apparently they really want everyone to drive economically.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by slowmover

You’re ignoring the elephant in the living room. The people who built America’s cities were driven out of them by 1970.

Driven out? Hardly. They were lured out by the promise of being able to afford a better place to live than crowded urban tenements. It's a process that was under way well before automobiles became common, as larger cities built commuter railroads & subway systems.

[slowmover]

That certainly explains Detroit. Or Birmingham. “Tenements” is pretty much only NYC.

[MetroMPG]

Guys, let's keep this on topic, please.

[MetroMPG]

A personal finance writer I follow at a major newspaper addressed the issue of rising gas prices this week:

Pity the two-vehicle family with a mortgage up for renewal this spring

Between higher borrowing costs and surging gasoline prices, a typical family could easily expect to pay an extra $165 or more per month.

...

Interest rates are a much bigger deal than gas prices, unless you drive a thirsty truck or SUV.

[Frank Lee]

Pity them? Pretty much all self-inflicted. Schaudenfreude them.