I know little about economics, but a commentator on NPR today noted the following. Oil supplies are not as tight as they were, but the price of gasoline in the U.S. continues to rise because the dollar is weak.
The dollar is weak for various reasons unrelated to energy, I gather. It is a pain in the butt for me with the Japanese Yen so high. Gasoline prices in Japan are falling. They were reduced by about ~$1 per gallon last month when a tax on gasoline expired, because of the opposition parties. It was a major brouhaha on the TV news for a few weeks. The P.M. said -- rightly in my opinion -- "this is irresponsible because we need the revenue, and because Japan should take the lead in conservation and new technology, and we should discourage gasoline consumption." Ordinary people interviewed on the news were thrilled to see the price fall. - Jed
