Gas Prices Fall, Still Near Record Highs

By Tim on 03/11/2013 in Commodities

American motorists have seen a little relief over the last week or two as pump prices fell from record high levels for this time of the year. As shown below, after exceeding last year’s record high prices for the last five weeks, 2013 prices have now dipped back below those levels and are likely to stay there for at least a little while given the recent drop in crude oil prices and the continuing rise of a year ago.

Nonetheless, there will be a big spike in the energy component of the February inflation report to be released on Friday that will reflect the early-2013 rise. Little noticed a few months ago was that 2012 saw a new record high for average pump prices, all part of the “frog in boiling water” effect that consumer prices have had on the American people as the central bank continues to remind us that inflation is less than two percent a year while average pump prices have increased an average of 10 percent per year since 2004.

3 Responses to Gas Prices Fall, Still Near Record Highs

  1. Tim March 11, 2013 at 4:40 PM #

    Related, from For the middle class, expenses grow faster than paychecks:

    “Gas in Corinth, Miss., her hometown, costs $3.51 a gallon now, compared to less than three bucks in 2012. That really hurts, considering her husband’s 112-mile daily round-trip commute to his job as a pharmacist.
    …
    “If you look at how much prices are going up, you get in the hole really quick,” Bruister said. “It’s a constant squeeze.”

    Reply
    • DCX2 March 12, 2013 at 12:28 PM #

      You know, the woman in that article sees the problem as “gas is too expensive”.

      I see the problem as “your husband works too far from home”.

      Reply
  2. Anthony March 11, 2013 at 5:03 PM #

    And if you are on a fixed income, then it seems like by-design you are forced to invest in the stock market in order to keep up with real inflation.

    Reply

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