Depression.
It’s all those new Chevy Volts on the road /sarc
People use a lot less gas when they don’t have to drive to work anymore.
I’ve got an easy fix...
Drop the price and people will buy more.
Keep raising it, and you’ll see a lot less being sold.
Interesting article. Something is definitely happening if the data are correct. Intuitively, it doesn’t make much sense given population growth alone. I wonder if our aging population and lower job participation rate are the prime reasons why consumption is lower over the long term. However, it is much harder to explain the precipitous decline over just 13 years.
This is bad economics. A decrease in quantity consumed that occurs at the same time as an increase in prices (gas prices have risen), is easily attributable to a decrease in supply. I.E. the supply curve has moved up and to the left:
Simple undergraduate economics, really.
With unemployment as high as it really is, non of those are driving to work. More people on the government dole, sitting on their couch collecting checks. Who among them need to drive? Retailers purchasing less inventory, less trucks on the road. Gas prices going $4.00 plus per gallon, people drive less. Inflation hitting food prices, while paychecks stay the same.....just some thoughts.
I see at least three factors, all working together to cause this:
1. Extremely tight personal finances, virtually everywhere in the country.
2. Rising prices.
3. The increasing use of the internet, which eliminates quite a bit of the need for travel. We’re pretty much all connected, if we want to be, without leaving our front porch.
Imagine what the price would be if we were in recovery.
Inflation is worse than we think.
Obama
I don't see nearly as many SUV's on the road and way more smaller cars/mid size.
Gas is getting near the magic $4.50 mark. At that point people start cutting back bigtime. It is just a step in the process of the price cycle. The cure for high prices is.......(wait for it)...... high prices. IMHO.
This morning UPS dropped off a nuclear/coal powered electric lawn mower. Next: Trade the van for a glowplug powered rollerskate.
Here’s a neat little site- US Inflation Calculator-
http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
It says that inflation since 1987 has been 100%. You can plug in any years that you want.
My wife and I are trying to do our part !
We traded our Astro van, which she drove to work every day, for a Honda CR-V which gets twice the MPG of the Astro van.
I have recently bought a used, small, Honda Rebel 250 motorcycle, which gets around 70 MPG and can travel at highway speeds, for my local trips.
These changes plus the reduction of un-necessary travel have made a difference. I think other people are doing the same.
My wife and I are going to pick up our new car this weekend. The new car has an EPA rating of 40 mpg on highway , the old one was averaging about 20 mpg on highway. A rather large drop in our fuel consumption. I am sure many others are taking the same path as us. We just got tired of spending 80+ dollars a week in gas.
It is a Hyundai Elantra , built in Alabama.
Wait until the March figures are calculated.
Out here in Californicator land, gas prices for regular are well over $4/gallon and up to or over $5/gallon.
In less than a year, filling up our gas tanks has gone from a little owie to big time hurt.
When people got their credit card bills for Dec/Jan and Feb, they started to cut down on their discretional/recreational driving.
We still see a lot of commute traffic during commute times, but traffic during the rest of the day is down with the exception of the times for dropping kids off at school or picking them up.
One of our younger Cali relatives’s wife has a good size suv, and she was a big time driver. Her gas bills were going over $400 per month. He took his credit card away from her and told her she had to fill her SUV on her credit card. She took the kids to school twice a week for a 3 mile round trip each day. Other Moms pick up or take the kids for the other days. Their grocery store is another 3 mile round trip. They get about 18 mpg with their suv. He started giving her what a gallon of gas cost for her cost to get to and from the school and a weekly trip to the store.
After she got her first on her own credit card bill for her driving, her gas costs are now down to about 50-60 $’s month.
Bookmark
Yet the cost still goes up........