GAS PRICES NEAR RECORD HIGH (even after inflation)

So, one of the hilarious things I hear from folks who think skyrocketing gas prices are no big deal is that adjusting for inflation, we actually pay less for gas now than we did at the end of the gas crisis in the 1970s.

Well, guess what! Even after adjusting for inflation, the price of car juice is set to crack the record. Check out this cutting from a November 18, 2007 article at CNN.com that reports on how we're just nine cents short of the highest price for gas ever:

The price of gasoline has jumped another 13 cents in the last two weeks, close to the all-time high set earlier this year, according to a survey published Sunday.

The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular is $3.09, the Lundberg Survey found. That's just 9 cents below the record set in May.

The latest price is also 9 cents below the inflation-adjusted all-time high, said survey publisher Trilby Lundberg. In 1981, the price peaked at $1.35 -- which, in today's dollars, comes out to $3.10 using the latest Consumer Price Index data, she said.

Don't be surprised if the records are shattered in the coming weeks, Lundberg said. Even if crude oil doesn't climb further, "we can easily see another dime at the pump," she said, "because refiners are severely squeezed between their oil buying price and their gasoline selling price."

Nice, so even if oil doesn't climb any higher it won't mean lower prices at the gas pumps. Too bad the price of oil is almost guaranteed to go higher.

Damn, I still haven't bought that skateboard. Perhaps Santa will bring me one.

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