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Introduction
In recent years no economic topic has commanded more attention and elicited more emotion than the rising price of gasoline in the United States. Major storms in the southeastern states in 2005 and the ongoing strife in the Middle East have caused the price at the pump to rise to record levels at times and to stay high for extended periods of time. I intend to show how the recent fluctuations in the price of gasoline in the United States apply to the basic economic principle of Price Elasticity of Demand. I will show, through research of economic data how the demand for fuel has responded to the sales price at the pump in recent years as well as during the oil crisis of 1973 and 1980.
1973 -1974 Arab Oil Embargo
First, let us start with a bit of history. Although the recent rise in price at the pump has been a burden on most of us, the economic and personal impact seems to have been far less than that of the oil shortages in 1973 and 1980. In 1973 Arab oil exporting countries refused to sell oil to nations that supported Israel in the Arab-Israel war. The effect of this decrease in supply in the United States was dramatic:
"Within a few months, the price of oil went from around $3 a barrel to about $12. That sounds like a bargain, compared with just over $70 in April 2006. But expressed in today's dollars, the price went from around $10 a barrel to $40 a barrel. That's a huge increase and the impact on the global economy was devastating." (CBC News)
In the years to follow, after the oil embargo was lifted, the price of oil fell, but failed to recede to the levels observed prior to 1973. In 1973 the average price for a gallon of Regular Leaded gas at the pump was $0.39. In 1974, effe ...