February 23, 2011
By Lee DeCovnick
Five dollar a gallon gas will shatter the Federal Reserve's tightly constrained lid on inflation and accelerate the other half our long anticipated "double dip" recession. Gas and diesel powers America's 141 million cars, 100 million pickups and SUV's, 8.8 million heavy trucks and 6.7 million motorcycles. Oil runs our harvesters, delivers our groceries, cooks our food, heats our houses, propels our jets, fuels our M-1A1 Abrams tanks, and lubricates our bicycles. American business can only absorb a few percentage points increase in oil prices before passing on their additional distribution costs to the consumer. Already the increases in food and clothing prices have been felt at the cash register. Disposable income will inevitably drop along with consumer demand for domestic cars and trucks, imported goods from China, and destination vacations to resorts in the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. Don't even ask what this means to our already sluggish unemployment numbers.
So, how close are we to $5.00 a gallon gas? This photo was shot yesterday, February 22, 2011. We may look a back at these prices as the "good old days" of inexpensive energy costs. Read More
