[MisterAgreeable]

Hello all. I haven't posted in many months, and this thread has been chosen as the designated victim of my first post of '04.

I quote Greg Easterbrook, in this post to his blog, referencing this earlier post. Note the chart there, it's pretty informative.

Originally Posted by Mr. Easterbrook

First a quick reminder that, as yours truly pointed out a month ago, gas prices are not at any "record" level in the meaningful--inflation-adjusted--sense. In real dollars, gasoline currently costs no more than it did in the 1950s; in real dollars, gasoline currently costs about a third less than it did at the real-dollar peak, early in the Reagan administration. Factor in that buying power per capita has more than doubled since the 1950s, and most Americans now spend a significantly smaller share of their incomes at the pump than their parents spent during the 1950s. But this has not stopped either party, nor any major news organization, from declaring that gas prices just hit "record" levels.

Hugs and kisses,
MisterAgreeable.

(Who lives 6.5 miles from his work and rides his bike in frequently.)

[smhatahy]

but if you consider inflation we also get payed a whole lot less than in the 50's..

[MisterAgreeable]

Originally Posted by Akshay626

but if you consider inflation we also get payed a whole lot less than in the 50's..

No nation in the history of humankind has known such a widespread increase in prosperity and spending power as post-war United States. We have it much, much better off than our fathers and grandfathers did.

Here's a chart from the US Census Bureau of American Households' spending power since 1967, broken into 5ths of the population, ranked by income. Nearly every group had an over 600% increase in inflation-adjusted income.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h01.html

Here's a brief explanation of how they adjust the numbers into current dollars:

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/constdol.html

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by fifsuperpod37

Texas is the greatest state. Here in Austin my gas is $1.50 a gallon. This seems high to me but everyone else seems to have it much worse.

and we have no income tax

I wonder how many "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" signs we would see if gas prices went above $3.50 a gallon.

good point

[smhatahy]

Originally Posted by MisterAgreeable

No nation in the history of humankind has known such a widespread increase in prosperity and spending power as post-war United States. We have it much, much better off than our fathers and grandfathers did.

Here's a chart from the US Census Bureau of American Households' spending power since 1967, broken into 5ths of the population, ranked by income. Nearly every group had an over 600% increase in inflation-adjusted income.

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/h01.html

Here's a brief explanation of how they adjust the numbers into current dollars:

http://www.census.gov/hhes/income/histinc/constdol.html

ummm i dunno.. but my econ teacher had us check out average salaries and looked at them adjusted and they turnedd out to be lower now.. ill check on it and reply

[JerryLove]

The classic problem is that not all things inflate evenly... gas offers a terriffic example.

If I used gas-prices as a constant (befor the recent hike) I would find that the dollar was worth more in 1990 than in 1980. I would see deflation when, in fact, there had been inflation.

There are a few key industries that are followed to determine dollar value... one is agriculture (which has not inflated anywhere near the rate of cars, or movie tickets, or health insurance). I don't know what the others are, and I cannot, therefore comment intelligibly on wheather the chart is accurate or inaccurate... but I am suspicious of it.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by fifsuperpod37

I wonder how many "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" signs we would see if gas prices went above $3.50 a gallon.

at least 1

[JerryLove]

"Saudi Arabia on Sunday blamed record high U.S. gasoline prices on America's tough environmental laws and lack of refining capacity, saying OPEC's oil production policies were not to blame. " - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...8&section=news

[smhatahy]

Originally Posted by JerryLove

"Saudi Arabia on Sunday blamed record high U.S. gasoline prices on America's tough environmental laws and lack of refining capacity, saying OPEC's oil production policies were not to blame. " - http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...8&section=news

id agree with that..

[josiah]

Originally Posted by JerryLove

There are a few key industries that are followed to determine dollar value... one is agriculture (which has not inflated anywhere near the rate of cars, or movie tickets, or health insurance). I don't know what the others are, and I cannot, therefore comment intelligibly on wheather the chart is accurate or inaccurate... but I am suspicious of it.

Well, if I am correct, which I usually am prone not to be, the dollar is based on the CPI, or a set of around 100 products (i think) that the average american would use in a daily setting. Things such as bread, and other staples of food as well as cars and such are used to diagnose just how much the dollar has changed and so forth. I don't know if this was what you meant or not, but I thought I'd throw in that input for now.

[tennisboygr]

I find it funny that nobody seems to mention the fact that compared to the rest of the world, we pay pennies for our gas. Europe is well over $5/gallon, as is Asia, Canada is over $3/gallon (why do you think they all come over here to get their gas?). I think we should be happy that gas prices aren't that high yet (and I hope they never will be, at least, not until I become a multi-millionaire). Just my two cents.