As we know, the price of gas plunged during the pandemic. At one memorable moment, the value of a barrel of oil was less than zero. Why? Because discretionary driving came to a halt. Prices collapsed in response to falling demand.
Today’s conditions, of course, are exactly the opposite. While a substantial percentage of the current price increases can be attributed to supply shortfalls caused by the war, the rest of it is due to the soaring demand for post-pandemic discretionary travel.
The lesson here is simple: gas prices are largely in your hands! If you don’t want to pay $5 per gallon, cut down on your discretionary driving, and they will come down, just as they did in the pandemic. Don’t make the decision to drive for your own entertainment and then whine that Biden isn’t doing enough to keep prices down, because that doesn’t make economic sense.