[retiredguy]

I second what Cash said. Where I lived, I never saw a gas line. Sundays were a problem if one hadn't made provision for the fact that no gas stations would be open.

I was driving a Corolla at the time, so I was getting at least 30 mpg. I was living at near poverty level, but so were all of my friends since we had just graduated from college with liberal arts degrees and businesses weren't hiring. Even as poor as we were, I don't remember gas costs as particularly traumatic. But then again, my work commute was short and we were on a bus line.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he Average Algerian Schmoe went from being able to buy enough food for his family to not being able to even afford unleavened bread.

[rockdoc123]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')n interesting test case might be this pension issue, with the airlines and auto companies on the brink of disaster. If the old-timers lose their pensions, taking to the streets is an option, as apparently comical as that sounds.

[oowolf]

I live in one of the poorest counties in the US. For years I drove $100 barely functioning beaters with fake plates, no license or insurance. There are many here today doing this-the big difference is many now carry semiautomatic weapons and a don't fk with me attitude and the local cops are getting the message.
Gasoline shortage? I got the point back in '73.

[RockHind]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I') live in one of the poorest counties in the US. For years I drove $100 barely functioning beaters with fake plates, no license or insurance. There are many here today doing this-the big difference is many now carry semiautomatic weapons and a don't fk with me attitude and the local cops are getting the message.

[jimmydean]

In 2005 dollars ~92 bbl I believe so we're a bit off the mark of the 70's.

Commutes are most definitely longer than back in the 70's. Expansion beyond suburbs yet job concentration in the city.

PO will be devastating but at the same time may bring us back to a better way of living in the end.

[seldom_seen]

[URL=http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050816/D8C12CK01.html]
July Inflation Jumps on Rising Gas Prices[/URL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ASHINGTON (AP) - Consumer prices shot up in July, reflecting higher prices for gasoline and other energy products while output at the nations' factories, mines and utilities slowed sharply.

[Eli]

Yup,

Now comes the bad times. This when the masses start to realize that the economy is heading for the toilet.

October is going to be a bad month.

[MicroHydro]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f we fail to act soon, we will face an economic, social and political crisis that will threaten our free institutions.

[aflurry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', 'I')f we would have only listened to Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy! Jimmy!

[Klatuu]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')oo late. The free institutions are long gone. The US is a police state run by insane Likudniks and Rapture freaks, threatening to launch a nuclear attack on a third world nation.

[pup55]

Travolta

Some estimates say that Travolta has gone from 160, when he did Grease, to about 270 currently. That's a pretty good definition of "inflation".

[NEOPO]

"ooooooooh oooooooooh mr kotter!!!"

now explain to all the kids what that means

Carter is/was and still is the man in my book.
Is he still out there building homes for poor people?

His energy speechs are more chilling now then ever retrospectively.
Sadly, I was only a child then and thus it took 25+ years for those words to make sense.....lets hope this kind of learning curve isnt the norm

Due to conservative republican smeer campaigns I was aware at an early age that jimmys brother was a an alcoholic
Sad isnt it?

Bastards filling our heads with nonsense and video game distractions!!!

Father - the sleeper has awaken !!!!

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kochevnik', ':')!:
When do the wage/price freezes start ?

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kochevnik', 'I')f there's shortages, everyone suffers, if the price is allowed to skyrocket, only the poor suffer. The poor vote (technically) so I wouldn't make any bets against a repeat of the 1970's (at least in the beginning).

[BabyPeanut]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NEOPO', 'C')arter is/was and still is the man in my book.

[aflurry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kochevnik', ':')!:
When do the wage/price freezes start ?

[kmann]

Just hand out 200,000,000 WIN buttons. That will fix it.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('aflurry', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kochevnik', ':')!:
When do the wage/price freezes start ?

[aflurry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'I')f you force companies to sell gasoline at under the market price, they will be far less likely to go and get more supply.

But this time we can't just find more supply, so the second impact of price controls comes into play. Consumers don't get the message that gas is in short supply given price controls. If gas prices are frozen at $2 a gallon, people will consume far more gas than if the price was allowed to rise to $5+.

Why bother to conserve if the price is kept artificially low?

If you ration gasoline, people will get around the rationing. Even in WW2, people tried to get around the gas rationing. They were willing to eat less meat, butter, sugar, and trade in their knickers for the war effort...but they were unwilling to give up their gasoline.

So if the government tries to keep prices down by force, we will find ourselves with empty shelves and empty tanks.

When the price of gas rises to $5+, people will begin looking at their lives and finding ways to cut back. But if you never allow that to happen, the problem becomes "those damn ration cards" rather than a real shortage.

Does that explain it?