For somebody for whom they're going to buy a certain amount of gas irrespective of the price, should they really spend so much time thinking about the price of gas? It doesn't affect anything they do.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I really haven't been cognitive of gas prices. It wasn't until I filled up my husband's Toyota Prius Hybrid that I had a moment of understanding of how people who drive gas cars feel.
As the price of gas goes up, people will become more conscience of how much they use.
When all is said and done, cheap gas is an illusion, because our reliance on gas creates a whole series of costs that aren't factored in to the pump price - among them congestion, pollution, and increased risk of accidents.
Surely there comes a time when counting the cost and paying the price aren't things to think about any more. All that matters is value - the ultimate value of what one does.
Certainly, we are hurt by the high fuel prices because it raises our cost.
The reality is gas prices should be much more expensive then they are because we're not incorporating the true damage to the environment and the hidden costs of mining oil and transporting it to the U.S. Whenever you have an unpriced externality, you have a bit of a market failure, to the degree that eternality remains unpriced.
About 75% of the price of gas is really dictated by crude oil. At the heart of the issue is increasing demand over a period of many years around the world. World crude oil consumption now is close to 90 million barrels a day. Most of the growth in demand is coming from China and the developing world.
Every decision we make - when we choose a vehicle, when we pump gas into that vehicle, when we order food - is not just a personal lifestyle choice. It's an environmental and moral choice.
It doesn't take a degree in economics to know that something is wrong when it takes $30 or $40 to fill up the gas tank.
As long as gas is cheaper than bottled water, we can't be in a position of dictating to the consumer what to buy.