Message-ID: <s4845d63.012@crs.loc.gov> Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 19:06:03 -0500 From: Jonathan Sanford <mailto:JSANFORD@CRS.LOC.GOV> Subject: Re: Personal suffering WILL BE IMPOSED -Reply To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Dear Valerie,No gas shortage observed here (Washington, D.C.) or in Northern California, during a recent visit. Likewise, no gas shortage was experienced and prices were reasonable this last summer all the way from Washington DC to Michoacan state in Mexico. I didn't even see a gas line. Iraq has been pretty much out of the oil market for a couple years, but that doesn't seem to have driven up prices. If their export quota is increased, then there'll be more supply available.
According to my calculations, gas prices today are about the same on a real (inflation adjusted) basis than they were when I was a new teenage driver. Back then, we had 25 cent gasoline and 25 cent hamburger. The price level in dollars has increased five-fold since then. I bought gas for less than $1.25 a gallon last week (and this includes more taxes than before). When's the last time you bought $1.25 hamburger?
Jon Sanford