Much Ado About Gas Prices

markmcb writes "It seems that a week cannot pass without finding big news about gas prices. They're up, they're down ... but why do we care so much? OmniNerd posted an article that aims to put gas prices in perspective. The author takes a look at other commodities and their price variances and applies some simple math in order to make the claim that best-gas-price-hunting is an effort that could be better used on other products. From the article, 'Why the disproportionate emphasis on gas prices in our culture, then? Although some cite a failure of politicians or media populists to account for inflation and purchasing power changes, I think it is simply because gas prices are in your face.'" IMO, the other side to the price of gas is that, especially in developed countries, it has a pervasive effect throughout all layers of the economy — food prices (because of the trucking), schools (busing), etc., etc.

Comments

Eh hem, size matters.

[suso]

Perhaps the size of the price sign is what matters. Gas prices are shown in large high contrast fonts on every street corner. The price sticker on a bottle of shampoo is less noticeable or sometimes not noticeable at all. You just pick it up and put it in your cart.

In mathmatical terms, figuring that the price sign at a gas station is about 6 feet by 4 feet, and the price sticker on a shelf for a bottle of shampoo is 2 inches by 1 inch, the gas station sign is about 1,728 times larger and thus more emphasis is placed on the price of gas.

Re:Eh hem, size matters.

[Benwick]

Yes, and most people use about 14 gallons of shampoo for every three hundred miles they walk.

Re:To really put things in perspective..

[LaughingCoder]

I'll see your price-per-gallon math and raise you some proportional-area math.

The US is 3,537,438 square miles (land). Finland's is 305,470 (land). So, the US driver must cover 11.58 times as much area. Now that works out to a proportionate gas price of $6.04 / 11.58, or $0.52 per gallon.