US government reports gas price drop in April

[wildman]

Main Question or Discussion Point

According to the US government Consumer Price Index, the price of gasoline dropped in April. I kid you not. I was a 0.2% drop. So how many of you experienced this drop in April? Some areas must have had a BIG drop to compensate for the BIG rise in my town.

 

[loseyourname]

I haven't seen the price drop here in LA/Orange County in the year since I've moved back.

 

[aquitaine]

I'm calling BS on this. No way gas prices went down.

 

[Astronuc]

Gasoline prices may have flattened or dropped in April, but only brielfy. Prices have been rising through May and June as far as I can tell.

 

[Evo]

There was about a .10 cent price drop for a couple of days, it made me mad I filled up then the price dropped back to around $2.54, now it's up to $3.85. And I still don't see any less traffic. Sunday afternoon and it's like the entire city is out joyriding. Idiots.

 

[Astronuc]

Regular just hit $4.29/gal nearby us.

Some people in this area only put in $10 or $20 of gasoline, i.e. they don't fill up.


We have started to see SUV's and large cars for sale all over the area. Apparently local dealers are refusing delivery of new SUV's. All of a sudden, I see brand new hybrids (e.g. Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrids) more frequently.

 

[wildman]

No BS. The government really reported a drop (after their screwball adjustments of course). See:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-05-14-consumer-prices_N.htm

What I am really interested in is a debate on whether there is truly inflation running in the US (some economists claim a rate as high as 12%) or whether the government (with its adjustments) is correct that inflation is under control.

I just couldn't resist an attempt sarcastic humor in the first post. Of course what makes it funny is that gasoline actually rose 10% in April. No one in their right mind thinks that it went down. But still the government is reporting such:

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/05/us-inflation-mi.html

 

[lisab]

Regular just hit $4.29/gal nearby us.

Some people in this area only put in $10 or $20 of gasoline, i.e. they don't fill up.


We have started to see SUV's and large cars for sale all over the area. Apparently local dealers are refusing delivery of new SUV's. All of a sudden, I see brand new hybrids (e.g. Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrids) more frequently.

That's about what a gallon is going for now in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

I'm starting to see a lot of scooters around town - that's new! The silver lining of this mess: 18-wheelers are driving much, much slower - even following the speed limit . But I sure feel bad for the owner-operators.

 

[Astronuc]

No BS. The government really reported a drop (after their screwball adjustments of course). See:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-05-14-consumer-prices_N.htm

What I am really interested in is a debate on whether there is truly inflation running in the US (some economists claim a rate as high as 12%) or whether the government (with its adjustments) is correct that inflation is under control.

I just couldn't resist an attempt sarcastic humor in the first post.

The point is -

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, was just 0.1% in April compared with 0.2% in March. For the past three months, core prices rose at a 1.2% seasonally adjusted rate.

However, gasoline prices have increased well beyond their seasonal norms.

But inflation affects people differently according to income. A person who makes $20 K /yr will feel a lot more pain with increase in food prices than someone making $100 K or $200 K /yr.

 

[wildman]

I just read through the comments in the following link:

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/05/us-inflation-mi.html

The last (long) comment in the string is very interesting. The writer explains basically what is going on and why the economists don't consider it to be inflation. Actually the whole thread is interesting.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I'm calling BS on this. No way gas prices went down.

0.2%? That's less than a penny per gallon. Hard to see how that would even be noticeable, much less BS.

 

[loseyourname]

There was about a .10 cent price drop for a couple of days, it made me mad I filled up then the price dropped back to around $2.54, now it's up to $3.85. And I still don't see any less traffic. Sunday afternoon and it's like the entire city is out joyriding. Idiots.

Gas is around $4.60 - $4.70 a gallon around here and there has been a very noticeable dropoff in highway traffic. It's been about the only pleasant side effect. People are finally starting to drive less.

 

[BryanP]

Noticed nothing. Back in April gas in this area was almost 4.30 for 91, now it's nearly 4.80 for 91.

I think there were some short-term drops but the prices came back with vengeance.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Gas is around $4.60 - $4.70 a gallon around here and there has been a very noticeable dropoff in highway traffic. It's been about the only pleasant side effect. People are finally starting to drive less.

I haven't really noticed any drop in traffic unfortunately. And those prices are killing me.


I vaguely remember prices going down just a bit not that long ago and my naive hope it would continue.

 

[lisab]

Gas is around $4.60 - $4.70 a gallon around here and there has been a very noticeable dropoff in highway traffic. It's been about the only pleasant side effect. People are finally starting to drive less.

I've noticed that too, and it's not just anecdotal. Our state Department of Transportation reported that traffic has dropped 2 to 3% in recent months. Doesn't sound like much but I definately have noticed.

 

[Dale]

There was about a .10 cent price drop for a couple of days, it made me mad I filled up then the price dropped back to around $2.54, now it's up to $3.85. And I still don't see any less traffic. Sunday afternoon and it's like the entire city is out joyriding. Idiots.

Agreed. People complain about high gas prices and then do nothing to reduce demand. If demand doesn't go down then the price isn't actually too high. I hope the others on this thread are right and that demand is dropping somewhere, I cannot see it here either.

I wonder if one result of this will be more "work from home" arrangements.