Gasoline Prices: Not So Bad

An article at Slate confirms my suspicions:

But by almost any measure, gasoline is still cheap. In fact, it has probably been far too cheap for far too long. The recent price increases are only beginning to reflect its real value.

When measured on an inflation-adjusted basis, the current price of gasoline is only slightly higher than it was in 1922. According to the Energy Information Administration, in 1922, gasoline cost the current-day equivalent of $3.11. Today, according to the EIA, gasoline is selling for about $3.77 per gallon, only about 20 percent more than 86 years ago.

There are more charts available at the EIA website. Even though gas prices are at an all-time high, it looks as if we're not much worse off than we were in 1982.

The bad side of all this is that we've spent the last twenty years building our cities and suburbs on the assumption that gas would stay cheap. I expect that politicians will flail about trying to get the prices down for a year or so before they start beefing up public transit in earnest.