I don't think the demand has gone up so high,that the price of gas has to be increasing at such a rapid rate? Thoughts?

 I guess it is all about domestic production....

Go to the web - type in China's oil demand. You will find sites that Will show a dramatic increase. Do the same for India, same result. Prices may come down in the short term, because of the slow-down of the US economy which will cause the world economy to stall and thus use less oil. This will lower demand and the old law of supply and demand will kick in, lowering prices. Look for OPEC to cut production of oil to keep prices as high as they can.

Remember, the price of gas is tied to the price of oil, and we do not control oil prices. We import much of our oil and must pay the going rate.

And that brings up back to the Fed pumping money and cheap credit into the economy, devaluing our money.

Thanks,

Higgs

Bush sucking has nothing to do with whether wars stimulate economic growth or not. This has nothing to do with politics, it’s a question of economics. But hey if it make you feel better to write off my opinion and lump me in with our resident left wing Bush haters be my guest.  I do agree, Hillbama as President would be worse than Bush.

Thanks,

Higgs

A very good point made by Jet Dr, and I think the Fed has finally taken notice that this is an issue which it needs to be dealing with. Heretofore, the Federal Reserve had been quite content with letting the dollar slide.  Evidently they felt that a sinking dollar, which would make goods manufactured hear cheaper for purchase by folks abroad, could help spur a sliding economy back into a position of net growth.  While in the short term it did help with exports, the counterbalance was the rise of oil prices which effectively negated any gains here at home.  With energy costs soaring, companies here were forced to make cuts elsewhere...so they weren't gaining anything at all.

I think what we are beginning to see now is a nascent "strong Dollar" policy by the Fed.  Statements made recently were to the effect that rate cuts would be coming to a close, and that more of a priority would be placed on propping up the Dollar...which, if succesful, will counter some of the rise of crude oil.  When the Fed cut rates the other day, they did so by a far smaller margin than had been envisioned by most experts, which lends more credence to this belief.

In addition, short-term speculative gains on crude oil seem to have peaked...with more investors realizing that a slowdown both in the US and in some nations abroad has slackened demand for oil, or at least slowed its advance considerably.  We're going to have to watch for the next few months to see whether this trend continues...but at least in the near-term, I'd be surprised if oil hit $120 per barrel as was predicted during the frenzy over the last few weeks.