Gas Is Still Cheap

I had an interesting conversation with a retired auto mechanic yesterday. He tells me that in the early 1960s gas was around 25 cents per gallon, and a full time mechanic made about $3000 per year.

Today, the US national median income is about $45K or so and gas is around $3.75 nationwide. If you do the math, you realize that we’re paying about the same proportion of our income for gas as our grandparents!

Actually, we are doing better than our grandparents in many ways.  Modern cars get way better gas mileage than the barges of 1960.  This means we spend less to go further.  A modern car is also better in almost every way.  A $20,000 Honda Accord has more and better features than the most expensive 1960 production Cadillac or Mercedes.  It’s more has more gizmos, is more comfortable, and is generally safer than the cars of 40 years ago.

So, when you see the Big Eeeeeeeeeevil Oil companies making lots of money, take a moment and give thanks.  They’re keeping your gas at a more-or-less constant price, decade after decade, AND they’re part of your retirement fund, pension fund, 401K, or other broadly-based investment.  Their success (or failure) is the success or failure of millions upon millions of citizens.  Everyone needs to quit whining about high gas prices and get to work themselves trying to be at least as productive as Exxon/Mobil.