Gas Prices: These High School kids and their crusin' today!

In 1981, I used to get $5 bucks a week to "fill" my car up and go High School cruisin'. But would that be like getting $10 bucks a week now. Clearly, kids today have a much better economic situation to go cruisin' on the weekends than did I. In fact, they have it about twice as much better:

To be as expensive as gas in 1981, measured as the cost per 1,000 gallons as a share of per-capita net worth, gasoline today would have to sell for about $6.50 per gallon. Bottom Line: Gas today, even at $3, is relatively affordable and is actually cheaper than the decades of the 1940s, 1950s, 1960, 1970s and 1980s, when the price of gas is measured relative to our increasing household wealth. Goldilocks can handle $3 gas.[1]

Furthermore, the average car gets better gas mileage than those of 1981. So, quit all your complaining you slack-jawed whipper-snappers!! These are the good-ol'-days! (Although, about ten years ago, it was even "gooder" days for cruisin'.)

REFERENCES

[1] Mark J. Perry "Why The Goldilocks Economy Can Handle $3 Gas II" CARPE DIEM: Blog for Economics and Finance December 7, 2007 (Accessed 12/16/07)


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