Bob CollinsIt’s a pretty slow time of the year for news so the chances are good you’re going to hear or read a story about rising gas prices over the July 4th holiday.
Why, look! Here’s one now!
“Travelers to pay highest holiday gasoline prices in 6 years,” says Bring Me The News, citing a report from AAA Minnesota.
“Gas prices at six-year high for this time of year,” says the Dayton News, taking a more national look.
The numbers don’t suggest the drama of the headlines. The price of gasoline in Minnesota at the moment is only about a penny more than it was three years ago, but a headline that gas prices are up one cent from three years ago doesn’t exactly take one’s breath away.
Here is the actual data, courtesy of the Energy Information Agency.
| 2004 | $1.765 |
| 2005 | $2.108 |
| 2006 | $2.927 |
| 2007 | $2.935 |
| 2008 | $3.931 |
| 2009 | $2.441 |
| 2010 | $2.686 |
| 2011 | $3.565 |
| 2012 | $3.425 |
| 2013 | $3.385 |
| 2014 | $3.578 |
Technically, the prices are the highest since 2008, but that reflects how high the prices were in the pre-economic-meltdown days. In the last four years, gasoline prices have fluctuated in a very narrow, almost statistically insignificant range.
Overnight, the price of gasoline in the Twin Cities dropped to $3.499. Adjusted for inflation, that’s only 3 cents higher than a year ago, 5 cents lower than two years ago.
In fact, look at the chart with prices adjusted for inflation.
Bottom line? Meh.
