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Originally Posted by mikefocke
thinking of replacing my wife's car. And gas prices do factor in but, driving so little, it really is a surprisingly trivial amount compared to insurance, depreciation, etc. And gas $ are something you can do something about buying a hybrid or a car that uses regular or you can buy something bigger and more powerful. You have a choice.
We are highly sensitive to oil prices because we see the meter run when we pump the gas. Almost no other commodity do we buy where that is true. Others we buy by the month or by the fill but not by the penny. How many of us have an appliance which displays $ spent on electricity as it runs? A faucet which displays our cost per second waiting for the water to warm up? Might change our sensitivities or habits if we did.
Supply and demand. And speculation always occurs in a volatile market.
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gas prices are also one of the few commodities that affect every other purchase. your hypothetical toaster costs more because the fuel used to bring it to the store or having it shipped. the bread that goes in the toaster will cost more, the eletricity dor the toaster will cost more, etc...