Critique Gas Prices inch up as oil prices rise

The previous blog about the rise of gas prices gives us some of the reasons why the price of gasoline continues to rise. As the blog mentioned the price of gas has been on the rise, going up just over five cents in the previous two weeks. The author of the blog had a quote from the original article that said gasoline demand is weak. I, like the author of the blog, find this a bit surprising. I agree that people are not taking as many road trips as they have in years past due to the recession and constantly rising gas prices but I also think that gas is an inelastic product. The majority of people in today’s society have a vehicle and use it daily to go back and forth to work and run errands. I believe the demand for gasoline is still very high. How many people could really go without using their car for multiple weeks? People use cars to go almost everywhere they go, gas is a product that most people could not go without for an extended period of time.

While there are alternatives to using your own vehicle to get from place to place, many of these forms of transportation use gasoline as well. Buses, for example, need gas to run. So if everyone took the bus there would still be a need for gas to run the buses. There are some alternatives that avoid the use of gas altogether such as walking or riding a bike. But how efficient are these alternative? Think about how many people commute long distances to work, walking or riding a bike are not reasonable substitutes for those people. What about going to the grocery store? I do not think it is reasonable to expect people who have a large family to walk or bike to the nearest grocery store then have to carry all of the goods they purchases home with them. Alternatives such as riding a bike or walking are not viable options when it is raining or snowing out. For example take someone who does live close enough to where they work that they could walk, if it is pouring rain out they will be in no condition to work by the time they get there. People in these situations are much better off to take their own vehicle wherever it is they are going, and their vehicles need gasoline to run. I agree with the author of the blog when he says that he thinks gas is an inelastic product. I would have to disagree with the comment from the original article that said demand for gasoline is weak. I do not see how the author of that article could say that since so many people need gasoline on a daily basis.