Now that Michelle Bachmann is no longer running for President, we aren’t going to get her promised $2 a gallon gas. What did she have in mind, anyway? Was she going to nationalize the oil companies and fix the price?
Of course you have heard this story before – gasoline is “cheap” here compared to most of the world – but a reminder is always good. Here’s something from journalism professor Justin Martin in Maine:
In middle-income Turkey, for example, a gallon of gas costs upwards of $10. Impoverished Eritreans pay about the same. A friend of mine in Tel Aviv tells me a gallon there fetches about $8. A gallon of petrol in the United Kingdom was up around $8.40 a gallon in March, an all-time high.
High gas prices have persisted for years in other countries. Americans have been accustomed to much lower prices, which makes the current spike a rarity and the cause for coverage and complaints.
Some perspective is in order. Journalists should reinforce the reality that our driving habits influence high prices, that our global neighbors pay a lot more than we do and that as a country we have to stop perpetuating the myth that we are entitled to low gas prices.
I paid $3.39 in Wauseon yesterday.
I think somebody’s messin’ with us.
I agree that Americans do not have a right to relatively cheap gasoline. I think it is fair to understand why America has enjoyed this privilege. I suspect it is largely due to investment in transportation and refining capabilitiy, combined with our rich natural resources. Given those investments, I don’t feel guilty about having access to cheaper fuel.
Separately, I scratch my head when anyone suggests that conservation will put downward pressure on pricing and at the same time argue that more production will not do the same. (Hint- it is the same market principle.)