The average price of regular is now $2.42 a gallon, according to the government's weekly survey (it's lower at many L.A. locations). Gas hasn't been cheaper since Nov. 6, 2006. But is that such a good thing? President-elect Obama struck the right note in last night's "60 Minutes" interview:
This has been our pattern. We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again. And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.



Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted
until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.