Falling gas prices

I’m sure you’ve noticed that gas prices have been falling the past couple of months. From a high of close to three bucks a gallon, prices have now dropped to around $1.98-2.12 a gallon in the Memphis area.

Like a lot of people, I tended to think, “Yeah, right. The oil companies are lowering the gas prices so their buddies the Republicans will win the fall elections and keep on passing favorable legislation.” But today I found this article on HowStuffWorks.com. It claims that the most important factor in the falling prices is the oil commodity traders, who believe there will continue to be an ample supply, and therefore don’t feel the need to push the price up. Other factors include a drop in the price of crude oil (OPEC doesn’t have as much power to control the price as they used to), and a mild hurricane season. “The GOP may be powerful,” says the article, “but it’s not powerful enough to control the price of a globally traded commodity.”

So at least on this one issue, it looks like the Republicans are getting some blame they don’t deserve.