The current price of gasoline appears to defy basic economics. Pam Moen with AAA Wisconsin says even though demand is down, prices are not. "It just defies logic that these prices can continue, absent the supply and demand support for them," says Moen. "But, so far this year they have continued to defy logic and set new highs." Moen says that's primarily due to speculation by traders, coupled with a weak U.S. dollar.
Moen calls decreased sales of gasoline "demand destruction," and Bruce Speight with Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group says an increased use of public transportation may be contributing to that drop in demand. So where do we — and gas prices — go from here? Talk of seven dollars a gallon notwithstanding, Moen says it's next to impossible to make any kind of meaningful prediction.
