Why are we so concerend about fuel prices? Let's compare with 37 years ago. Gas was $.40/gal or so.?

Question

An 18 gal fillup on the only new vehicle I ever bought was less than $10. That equaled about 8% of my weekly take home salary. That was 1971.........Here in 2008 a similar fillup of 18 gal costs near $67 and my weely wage is now 3 times what I earned then. So fuel costs compared to earnings per week now costs 23% or so. That's around a 300% increase and it's certainly outrageous. Housing costs have increased more than that. Food costs also take a much bigger bite. Bread costs more than 500% more than it did in 1971. Fuel costs are not what is killing the working man. Housing and food and medical and everything else are the real problems. Do you think we blame fuel costs because it is so closely linked with the american dream of independence and mobility? The $$$ I usta burn on recreational driving are now spent on bare necessities of life, food and housing and utilites and medical. I suspect the problem is less disposable income. Not fuel costs.

Answer 1

Huh ?? ..... I would agree that the bloated and greedy medical machine is a larger concern but fuel-costs have been THE major cause of the inflation of housing and food costs. The medical costs? .. they are ROBBING us ... because they just can ! ... No one is "fighting" those. But EVERYONE should. Or they will just take more and MORE of our money.

Less disposable income ? ...indeed ! Because of the bloated light and heat bills PLUS gasoline costs.

Answer 2

Good Analysis

Answer 3

It is all out of whack.The realestate market is just absolutely ridiculous,right along with health care.The problem with the high fuel cost is that it effects everything else that gets transported by truck,such as the food.Then there are the frivolous lawsuits to blame too,such as the lady who sued McD's for the hot coffee.I'm sure she wasn't expecting cold coffee.So my point is that everything is way out proportion.We all complain about the food,the housing,etc. but it's the cost of fuel that affects us all.What will happen when people can't afford to drive to work? It's not that far from the truth right now.My dad paid less for a house with 4 lots in 1970,($15,000 ) then what a new car cost now.There isn't a car or truck out there worth the money they charge.That is due to the fact of the high cost of health care the company has to pay for each person and the insurance on each person.

Answer 4

But mind you, that oil prices don't just effect fuel prices. Oil is used in fuel (obviously) but also plastics, road construction, power/electricity, heat/gas, and another few thousand other applications.

So, when the cost of oil goes up, the price of everything goes up and it gets passed onto the consumer.

So, a plastic piece that may have cost $.75 in 1971 (adjusted for inflation) may cost $1.15 now because of increase in material price.

But even in the non direct as plastic, it now costs more for produce to get to a grocery store. The supplier is going to jack up the price so they'll still make their profit, as well as the grocer who is going to do the same.

Granted, yes, income hasn't increased at as fast of a rate as oil or flour, but it's been pretty close. Compare minimum wage between the two.

Answer 5

What you say rings true. However, High fuel costs = less disposable income. 45 years ago a gal of gas was 20 cents.

Answer 6

I believe the reason is that people are forced to think about the increasing prices every time they buy gas. Most people buy gas more often than they buy bread. More often than they get paid their earnings. More often than most anything in fact. The more often you are hit in the face with something, the more likely you are to focus on it and complain about it. Doesn't help, I know.

Answer 7

you hit the nail on the head!

Answer 8

(I remember paying $.19 for gasoline as I drove from NY to Calif, after a tour with the USA in Germany in 1962).

What the question fails to recognize is that the other "increases" mentioned are, to a certain degree, attributable to the high cost of fuel.

Look at most all of your household bills - everything is doubling, doubling, doubling because of the cost of fuel that the providers simply pass along to us (the consumers).

Jeez, my garbage collection fees, for instance, have gone up by an average of 14% each quarter - and to mention the "fuel surcharge" on my monthly energy bills (electric and natural gas) would only serve to raise my blood pressure.

Um, I wonder what percentage increase BIG oil's profits have seen since your "1971" - disgraceful !

Tough to keep up with everyone increasing everything when one's income remains at earning  2 or 3% (and the Social Security "cost of living increase" annually is a joke).

Answer 9

The problem is our government... These greedy blood sucking vultures keep raising taxes and more and more homes are being foreclosed on. My house is going to be on the list of foreclosures in another month because I can't get hired anywhere.

Everyone can thank President Bush for going to war and killing the economy and then having the nerves to send people tax relief checks so your local and state government officials can raise the property taxes and get it right back.