Blue Monday

MANIFESTO

Passing more than a dozen gas stations on my way to and from work makes this story unsurprising:

U.S. drivers are paying record prices to fill their gas tanks and they could see prices surge as much as 30 cents more per gallon over the next few weeks, according to an industry analyst.

U.S. average retail gasoline prices hit a record $3.4737 per gallon on April 18, up 15.66 cents from the April 4 average, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

The cheapest gas I saw this morning was $3.489/gallon. (Every other station was selling it for at least $3.549/gallon.) I wouldn't be surprised to see it go over $3.52 at the same station by the time I drive home.

Related to that is this story:

Consumer prices in the U.S. rose 4 percent in March from a year ago, more than double their pace in August and close to a two-year high of 4.4 percent in November.

In other words, it's likely that people have less purchasing power than they did a year ago. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning (link unavailable) that most consumers have actually lost real money since the turn of the century due to their salaries not keeping up with inflation. And, it's certainly not surprising that "The price of crude oil has risen 86 percent over the past 12 months."

Remember when the oil men taking over the White House in 2001 were going to ensure that a spiral like this wasn't going to happen? Ah, those were the good old days, and we certainly should be shocked—shocked!—that they weren't able to control oil prices during their tenure.

On a more positive note, I have to say that I was impressed with the pope's visit. To be sure, I wasn't overcome with religious fervor like some were, but I thought he touched all the right bases—i.e., discussing the abuse situation and talking with 9/11 survivors—while he was here. He certainly could've swept these things under the rug, and I thought he might do just that, but he was actually quite forthcoming on these issues.

UPDATE — Sure enough, the station with the $3.489/gallon gasoline had increased its price to $3.639 by the time I drove home. The $3.549/gallon stations were all selling gas for $3.649/gallon. The readers of this blog who don't have cars should count their blessings.