Retail gas prices have been falling now for the last month, see chart above. And yet "rising gas prices" still seems to have much greater media coverage than "falling gas prices," according to a Google News Search for the last 30 days, by a ratio of about 50-to-1.
"if it bleeds, it leads".
ReplyDeletenothing new from the media about oil... they get hammered all the time for not reporting "good news".
I'll wait until gas is 2.99 before I'll get excited...myself...
:-)
poll question:
how many here actually can remember when gasoline was less than a dollar?
I'm betting not so many....
"how many here actually can remember when gasoline was less than a dollar?"...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school I was paying $10 to fill the 35 gallon gas tank on my F-100...
Do the math...
"Where's the Media Coverage?"...
Seriously?!?!
You think what passes for news media in this country is going to run a story that conflicts with Obama's wnining narrative about big oil and taxes?
how many here actually can remember when gasoline was less than a dollar?
ReplyDeleteI remember it, but not sure how old I was. I think early elementary school?
EIA unleaded gas prices are down under 2% since it's recent peak - not a barn burner.
ReplyDeleteGas was well under a dollar a gallon in my youth. But then, a dollar bought one HELL of a lot more back then. Silly comparison without adjusting for inflation -- and taxes.
ReplyDeleteBTW, California now has the 2nd highest gas tax (averaging 67.0 cents/gallon) in the nation (January, 2012). National average is 48.8 cents. http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/
(also CA has the nation’s highest diesel tax – 75.9 cents/gallon. Nat’l average 54.0 cents)
In addition, today's gasoline is a superior product to the "crude" stuff produced in past generations. It is NOT the same commodity.
ReplyDeleteCurrently gas is much more heavily refined to reduce pollution -- and sometimes to tailor it for certain environmental markets such as CA.
While the drop is not impressive, it is a REVERSAL.
ReplyDeleteAsk yourself, what would the MSM be reporting if gas prices steadily INCREASED during this past month, even if only by the same 2%?
Would not we be seeing frequent MSM stories of distraught folks at the pump, railing against evil oil companies and speculators?
Reporting that falling demand likely means a contracting real economy is not popular. And without being able to vilify the oil companies there is no story.
ReplyDeleteRR said: While the drop is not impressive, it is a REVERSAL.
ReplyDeleteA price drop of 2% is VERY VERY far from an actual change of the intermediate or long term trend. It's a temporary blip, no more.
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=$GASO&p=W&b=5&g=0&id=p09614481022