Rise In Gas Prices Critique

The rise in gas prices has been an ongoing problem for the past several years. In most working peoples lives, gas is an absolute necessity. I thought that this blog post about the article, Gas Prices Shift by Kris Maher in the Wall Street journal was very interesting and informative because much of what the article is describing relates to topics we have discussed in class. There are no true substitutes for gas, so people are beginning to make budget cuts on other things.
This blog tells that because gas prices are rising, it is ultimately affecting the overall economy and society. The author makes a strong point that because prices are rising, there has been a shift in demand for gas. This relates to what we have most recently learned in class concerning oligopolies and collusion. With perfectly inelastic supply, as demand shifts outward, prices will rise. The same holds true if supply decreases. As supply decreases, the price will increase. Gas companies can ultimately control consumer behavior in order to maximize their profits.
Though I thought this blog was very well done in relation to the newspaper article, I found one strong point in the article that was not discussed in this blog. The newspaper article author makes the point that higher gas prices could affect people that don't drive. Because of the rise in gas prices, The Meals on Wheels program in Canton, Ohio lost 12 volunteers because they couldn't afford to drive. The program that usually serves 2,000 people now can only give one meal a day to some senior citizens who usually are given two meals a day.
This idea that one person's own economic decisions, such as cuts in driving, can affect the overall economy. This idea was learned with Adam Smith's idea of the invisible hand. The invisible hand is the idea that one's private interest can lead to public gain, or in this case with rising gas prices, a loss.
The closing idea in this blog article is that as gas prices continuously rise, there is going to be a demand in a substitute for gas. I think that if a substitute was found for gas, the overall economy at the micro and macro level would face much less hardship. Businesses would be able to produce more at less cost and households would be able to spend more money on necessities and even leisure items.