$3.00 per gallon gasoline. Why is everyone so panicked?

invalid unparseable · 2007-03-18T17:54:57+00:00

At $3.00 per gallon gasoline is still not the highest price ever. Ifyou adjust for inflation it is still about 10% cheaper than thehighest reached in the mid-late 1970s. Not trying to make a politicalstatement but shouldn't we educate the public about this?I understand it seems high because all younger people have to comparethe price to is what they saw 5-10 years ago. Another thing that isn't considered, it seems, is that today's carsget a LOT better gas milage meaning that $3 Gallon of gas takes you alot farther than it would have 5-10 years ago. And if we go back tothe 1980s we're talking about a near 25% improvement on MPG.If bottled water prices increased like gas prices have, then we wouldhave reason for concern since we humans generally consume the sameamount of water and our bodies aren't more efficient in a measurableway at least in an average lifetime.I think the price for gasoline would need to reach or exceed about$4.50-$4.75 per gallon for regular unleaded before we could truly sayit is now the "highest price ever" Also, we didn't have cell phones,internet access and a host of other things to pay for back in the late1970s-early 1980s. So this might also make the gasoline price seemhigher since we all have less disposable income. If one cancelled the cell phones, cable tv/internet and a host ofother things we now pay for, wouldn't the $3 gas price seemunimportant to the average person.?Am I wrong about the price or the perception problem? If so, pleaseelaborate. I am willing to admit I am wrong on this.