What’s really behind rising gas prices

Baseball needs to speed up the game

The Front Page

Evening Update

Saturday, April 3, 2021

By Ken Tingley

The stock market is again at record highs, but that has nothing to do with who occupies the White House. 

In fact, the stock market has consistently set record highs year after year since 2013. None of this has anything to with President Joseph Biden or the former president for that matter either.

A couple years ago I wrote an editorial for The Post-Star titled “Presidents get too much credit, blame for economy.”

I pointed out that recessions are cyclical and relatively common economic events. There had been 10 recessions between 1945 and 2001. If residents knew how to prevent them they would do it so they could get re-elected.

I pointed out that the biggest boost to the American economy after World War II was the growing number of women entering the workforce. In 1948, one in three women worked outside the home. By 2001, three out of four did.

Earlier this year, I saw social media postings blaming the new president for rising gas prices.

On March 10, this Facebook post was flagged for its inaccuracies:

“When Sleepy Joe Came In Diesel Was $1.69. Today Diesel Is $3.19. Thanks To All That Voted For This Clown.”

I’m no economist, but I did take Economics 101 in college and learned something about supply and demand.

A fact check by Politifact confirmed that the Facebook post was wrong in a multitude of ways from the actual price of diesel, to the reality that diesel had been going up for some time anyway. 

During the pandemic, gasoline usage dropped significantly which led to prices dropping and then a cut back in production by the oil companies.

As the country re-opened in recent months, there has been more of a demand for gasoline - prices go up - while oil companies race to keep up with the demand.

This is what Politifact said:

“The Energy Information Administration, an independent government agency that provides analysis for policymakers and the public, said demand for diesel fell 8% in 2020, while demand for gas dropped by 13%. Demand is now rising quickly as the COVID-19 picture improves and the economy rebounds, but it takes time to get the supply back to normal. The Energy Information Administration says crude oil production in the U.S. was down in 2020 and will drop again in 2021 `as a result of a decline in drilling activity related to low oil prices." It projects an increase in 2022.’”

But I’d urge you to read the entire fact check so you see the big picture. Click here.

So stop blaming, or crediting, presidents for what you are seeing at the gas pumps or supermarket.

It is supply and demand.

Opening day

As much as I love opening day of baseball season, I was quickly reminded of one of baseball biggest problem - how long it takes to play a game.

I taped the Yankees opener and added an extra hours to the three-hour window that the television schedule allows for the game. Someone needs to inform the folks to program those schedules that the New York Yankees almost never play a game under three hours.

The time of the game came in at 3 hours and 44 minutes - granted it went 10 innings - but the score was just 3-2. Eleven pitchers were used in the game. The game only ended in the 10th because of the new rule to start extra innings with a man on second base.

Baseball needs to speed things up.

Speaking of baseball

Great story in the New York Times today about the Yankee bat boy from the Babe Ruth era who was buried in an unmarked grave and what one man did about it.

I love those types of stories. Click here to read it.

Final Four

The VCR has been my sports companion for some time. I probably watched 50 or so college games this season. After setting my VCR, I would start watching the game about an hour after it started. I would fast forward through the studio hosts and their predictions and the insights of the sideline reporters - perhaps the most useless job in the world.

I followed three teams very closely - Syracuse, West Virginia and Gonzaga. I watched more than 20 Gonzaga games and will be watching again tonight when they play UCLA in the Final Four.

Why Gonzaga? Years ago, it was the team with the funny name that was always playing late at night after I came home from work. Now, they are not only good, but really fun to watch.