contentFirst, the price of a barrel of crude oil, in 1999 dollars:
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)
As you can see, our current prices of $60/barrel are high, but the 1981 peak price is about $70/barrel when adjusted for inflation.
I've expected for a while that our current steady climb in prices will not stop until we have reached at least $2.50 for a gallon of gas. (My corner station is currently selling the lowest-grade gas for $2.39.) Looking at this graph, I would guess that most of the population will start doing something to curb their gasoline use when the price rises to $2.75 or more, since the record high is just over $3 in today's dollars.
One side benefit to being a one-job family: we're using less than half the gasoline we did before. :)
You may be on to something with the $4 price, though. I know plenty of people who grumble about the price now, but they're not willing to trade in their trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs for compact sedans. They are also not (yet) willing to walk/bike more or take public transportation - though for many people, those aren't viable options (for example: I live 28 miles from work, so biking would be pretty strenuous, and you should already know my issues with the commuter rail). I think I will see more car-pooling among the people in my office when we get up to about $2.75 or $3.
re: Long Island
Re: Long Island
(Anonymous) July 13th, 2006The actual prices, as adjusted for inflation only, show a big peak in 1981; we have about equaled that price in 2006. So it can fairly be said that gas prices, as adjusted for inflation, are nearly the highest they have ever been since 1950; they are double the price in 1972.
See the real charts at http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/statistics/gasoline_cpi_adjusted.html and http://oregonstate.edu/Dept/pol_sci/fac/sahr/gasol.htm