You wanna bet? We watched it happen. As gas penetrated the $4 barrier, our customers stopped paying their bills. It was unexpected and a lot of people could no longer pay their mortgages, plus all the other stuff they'd already bought on credit. I hope folks are more prepared this time for the $4 gas at the pump that we expect this summer. I have friends that were just able to unload their $1.5 million, 80 year old mansion (emotional sale to the grandson of the original owner/builder -- all cash) and traded it for a foreclosure in the $500k range (previously $1.3 million). Yes, they've had a lot of expenses associated with the sale and purchase, but they are still coming out ahead with a newer house, on a smaller lot, and no debt. My point being that I don't think that the previous owners would have lost that house except for the downward spiral started by the $4 gas.
Look...I am not claiming for one moment that High gas prices are not devastating to the economy. What I am saying is that people are putting the cart before the horse. The banks started going down before Gas prices rose. Then Gas prices rose. Not the other way around. Many people had already stopped being able to pay there mortgage. That is why the ponzi MBS scheme was failing. After that fact- When gas prices shot up- Of course it amplified the problems a lot. But if you look at Gas prices as being the trigger then you miss the forest through the trees. You miss the real culprits, and you can not ensure that it does not happen again. Again I say that Wall street drove up the price of oil during the crisis, maybe partly out of fear, but also as a means of making a lot of money from a commodity that people have to buy, no matter what it costs.