There were other factors in the mix in the first two oil shocks - shortages, at least at the retail level. Most of the griping at the time was not about the price so much as having to wait in the long lines or running out of gas when it was not your day to get gas (your license plate ended in an odd number and it was an "even" day). SR
-------------- Original message -------------- From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>
> Yeah, and it's not so good. Though the impact on household budgets is
> considerably smaller (so far) than it was in the 1979-81 spike. And
> the current energy share of consumption expenditures is about where
> it was in the 1950s. It fell into the first oil shock, rose through
> the 70s, fell in the 80s and 90s, and is back up again over the last
> four years or so. It'd take $200 oil to bring the energy share of
> consumption back to 1980-81 levels.
>
> Doug
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