Oil hit $97 a barrel today, but mostly insiders have made a big deal about the upward trends in price per barrel of late. Sure, when it hits $100, a headline or two will appear, buried under the war in Iraq, Hillary’s march on Washington, and some holiday recipes, but pricey crude is out of most people’s minds.
Why is the public not panicking about the high oil prices? For one, it’s not hitting where it hurts nearly as hard as it could, with prices at the pump at an uncomfortable, but internationally cheap U.S. average of $3.06 this week. For another, we’ve been hearing about the rise of oil prices from everyone for years—a daily dose from CNN, The Wall Street Journal and even straight shooting from out of President Bush’s mouth—all saying that oil isn’t going to get cheaper.
But it doesn’t seem like this a problem of ...
