In a prominent article in yesterday’s Richmond Times Dispatch (front page, above the fold), the paper reported that gasoline prices could reach $4 per gallon by June. The article went on and on about middle east tensions, “risk premium,” “the Iran factor” and so on. Interestingly, the word “demand,” as in “gasoline demand,” appears only once in the article in a passing reference to demand having “lagged.” The article further quotes a learned local economist who says “The economy looks like it is rebounding early.” Curious, don’t you think? Perhaps we should find out what he’s smoking?
So what about demand? Here’s a chart of gasoline demand, courtesy once again of Zerohedge (you can reproduce this chart for yourself by going to the energy department’s web site):
Does this look like a “rebound” to you? As you can see, gasoline deliveries (actual “demand for gasoline”) began crashing in 2007. People who don’t have jobs don’t need to drive to work, you see. See those two points all the way off on the right, down there at 30 MGD? Those are October and November 2011. Now, when was it that the war drums for war with Iran began to be beaten? Are someone’s profits collapsing?
So tell me again why gasoline prices are rising? Could it be the deliberate beating of the war drums, combined with the printing presses at the Federal Reserve Bank? There’s a recovery, but inflation is low, right?
As for the RTD article, it’s really difficult to not become cynical once you’ve caught the MSM misleading or outright lying to you as many times as I have. But to the RTD reporter: thanks for the illustration of the point.
You can see evidence of this establishment “narrative” everywhere you look.
For example. the unemployment rate has fallen, right? Really?
From the Federal Reserve; number of people in the civilian labor force:
From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics; percent of working age adults who “participate in the labor force:”
So, if the population of working age adults is rising steadily, and the percentage of those adults who have a job is steadily falling, how the hell is the unemployment rate falling? HMMMMMMMM?
You won’t find any of this on the good time news. What should that tell you? Romney! Obama! Whoo-Hoooooo!
