Oil Prices and Voting

Oil Prices and Voting

Because of dispersed residence patterns and the preference for large vehicles with low m.p.g., most Americans are very sensitive to gasoline prices. If the price of gasoline rises, they see an immediate effect on their budget and they get angry. Some want to take their anger out on the political party in power.

But this would not be a just or wise thing to do. The price of oil is set internationally by the big exporters, and politicians have relatively little to do with it. For a while when Trump was president the price of oil was low due to Covid-caused lack of demand. When Russia invaded Ukraine, oil prices rose, but has since declined as Russian oil continues to be sold. Sometimes prices temporarily rise because refineries close down for maintenance or suffer from fires. Fracking increased oil production (around 2014) enough to affect world prices, but “the fracking boom turned out to be a bubble that eventually burned up more than $300 billion in investors’ money.”

Finally, the ratio of gasoline prices to the average worker’s hourly wage is not that high by recent standards: in fact, it is lower than it was in the 2010s.

So, when you vote in 2022 (or any year for that matter) remember the above and make your vote depend on more substantial issues than oil prices.

(Source: The New York Times, 10/21/22)