Projo Cars Blog

Is it déjà vu all over again?

Gas prices have been rising steadily for weeks and are now running more than $2.65 a gallon.

That's getting awful close to $3 a gallon. Indeed, that's what I paid for super the other day.

Oh, excuuuse me! Make that $2.99 and nine-tenths of a cent! Talk about institutional gouging.

Be that as it may, the steady climb in gas prices compares with the hike last year that culminated in $4 a gallon for regular in July. That was followed by meltdown of the auto industry followed by the Great Recession and the bankruptcy of Chrysler and General Motors.

While gas prices are currently headed in the same direction, there is no telling if they will again hit $4 a gallon.

But the hike up from $2 a gallon in late April is causing concern about its impact on the economic recovery. Up until now, the drop in gas prices was about the only silver lining we had to hang our hopes on.

And while crude oil prices are currently running around half last July's all-time high of $147 a barrel, they have doubled since March which is more than the rise in gas prices.

Ironically, the rise in oil prices is attributed to both the weak dollar and the anticipated increase in demand for oil as the world economy recovers from the current downturn.

But now higher fuel prices are creating concern that they will slow down any such recovery!

Certainly, the rise in prices is supporting the argument that it is better to err on the side of caution when it come today's gas prices, and invest in fuel efficient vehicles.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

 Tags  gas prices Oil prices

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