When oil prices go up, citizens freak and governments scramble
■"High Oil Prices Met With Anger Worldwide: Both Rich and Poor Countries Make Moves To Appease Citizens," by Paul Blustein and Craig Timberg, Washington Post, 3 October 2005, p. A1.■"High gas prices put a big dent in truck sales: Detroit makers hit by switch to cars," by Sharon Silke Carty, USA Today, 4 October 2005, p. B1.
The countries that take the hardest hits? In the Gap, of course, because per capita incomes are so much lower.
As for Americans griping, most countries look at our SUVs and large trucks and say, "Serves you right."
But again, let's never confuse cause and effect: big American cars aren't the cause of this sustained price rise, the rise of China and other emerging markets are leading all this demand that's stressing current production capacity.
And yeah, the longer the prices stay up, the fewer big vehicles you'll see on the roads. No mystery there. But also no mystery that, just as China drives demand, it'll drive the changes in automotive technology as well. Remember, the New Core sets the new rules.