Are Gas Prices Really Too High?

From an historical perspective, maybe not. Here's an excerpt from a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 28, 2008:

“In 1960 cars got an average of just over 14 miles per gallon and gas cost around 31 cents per gallon, making for a cost per mile driven of about 2.2 cents. Today with gas around $3 and cars getting an average of 22 miles per gallon, it costs nearly 14 cents per mile to drive. But from 1960 to 2006 consumer prices went up around seven times, which means that 2.2 cents in 1960 now equates to more than 15 cents.

“Virtually nobody talked about ‘high’ gas prices in 1960. Today, alas, that is all we hear from all too many people, even though driving is actually cheaper.”