[mamelukesabre]

I don’t understand how the price of anything can go down if oil keeps going up up up. Fuel costs affect everything.

[cherry]

I can only understand things from my personal life experiences......

if we are all paying MORE of our money on gasoline, that leaves LESS for food,entertainment, clothing, cars, etc......

people can't really cut off the food, but surely the entertainment,retail and auto industries have got to be feeling the pinch from slow sales....so why aren't they discounting greatly?...no one is buying their stuff and they have to unload it....so why haven't THOSE prices at least come down....

in a real good and normal recession, one can usually make up for losses by picking up "deals"...so where are the deals?

[familyop]

"I don’t understand how the price of anything can go down if oil keeps going up up up. Fuel costs affect everything."

It works that way, until fear keeps consumers from buying anything unnecessary. And most imports are unnecessary items. ;-)

Oil might go down considerably, too, if the rest of the middle class is laid off and has no need for commuting. One drawback to that, though, would be having Obama as our next president.