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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (227518)	4/4/2005 10:21:11 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578288

In 1981 gasoline was about $3 per gallon in CA in today's prices. energy.ca.gov If you want Oregon data instead oregonstate.edu Other sources with similar data chartoftheday.com ghg.net Also see "Gasoline prices 2005: An inflation-adjusted bargain By John Stossel jewishworldreview.com \| They've been saying it on TV, morning and night: "The price of gasoline has risen again to a record high!" said one newscast, "The high prices are making it harder for some to keep their heads above water," said another. "Record high prices!" we keep hearing. "They don't even put the price on the sign anymore," joked Jay Leno on the "Tonight Show." "It just says, 'If you have to ask, you can't afford it.'" Drivers aren't laughing. They think what they see at the pump confirms what they've heard on TV. One told me the prices are "scary." A woman said gas was "going up and up and up, and it's the most expensive it's ever been." And she was on a bike. Well, it's time to wake up from the gas-price nightmare. All these media people are saying the gas prices are high for one simple, simple-minded reason: They are looking at big numbers — but they are not accounting for inflation. So the numbers look bigger than the costs actually are. That's what inflation does. The reporting is irresponsible and silly. Not adjusting for inflation would mean "Shrek 2" is one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. If you don't account for inflation, lots of prices keep going up. Comparing a price in the dollars of the 1930s — when "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" referred to a much more meaningful amount of money than a dime is today — to a price in 2004 dollars is like comparing a price in dollars to a price in yen. It's not as if the reporters would have to work at doing calculations to figure this out. Not only are there instant inflation calculators on the Web, but the federal Department of Energy accounts for inflation in its annual report of gas prices. It says gas is actually cheaper now than it was throughout most of the 20th century. Yes, it's 65 cents more than it was six years ago, but it's nearly a dollar cheaper than it was for much of the 1920s and '30s — and more than a dollar cheaper than in 1980. " jewishworldreview.com