These Are the Good Old Days

A study by energy analyst Daniel Yergin, released today, indicates that U.S. gasoline prices at the pump are lower today--taking inflation into account--than at almost any time since World War II. Gas cost 23 cents a gallon in 1947, Yergin found. But in 1991 dollars, that gallon would have cost $1.49--far more than the current year’s average price of about $1.15. The lowest gas prices in the period were in 1988; the highest were during the Iranian oil shock of 1980-’81. Gasoline taxes are also lower now than they were four decades ago. And with gas economy much improved, the cost per mile of fueling a car is lower, too. Americans are driving much more, however; the amount of gasoline used per American has climbed from 5.5 barrels a day in 1947 to 10.5 barrels a day last year. “America remains the world’s preeminent hydrocarbon society,” says Yergin.