Despite polls showing most Americans remain upbeat about their own economic situations, many of us feel the rest of their fellows are not doing well. It seems to me it all comes down to the price of gasoline at the pump. From its nadir during the peak of the Covid 19 shutdown, the price of gas is up by a $1.50/gallon as I write this. Filling up a gas guzzling pickup can conceivably set you back 40 dollars or more. For those who use a couple of tanks per week, this adds up in a hurry. You can cut back on many items in a pinch, but for many, there is no substitute for gas.
In absolute terms, gas is still cheap compared to many periods of time since the early 1980s, but cheap gas encourages gas guzzlers and environmental havoc. Electric vehicles will eventually wean us away from petroleum, but in the meantime, the political fortunes of Democrats and Republicans will be tied to the per gallon cost of gasoline.
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