Gas is nearing 5 pounds a gallon here — that’s edging up to 10 dollars a gallon in U.S. money, a point at which I suspect Americans habits will begin to alter slightly. I remember when gas was 21¢ a gallon — probably in Texas or somewhere that had its own reserves and held the price artificially low. Easy now to imagine how, with gas that low, one might, thinking that there would be an endless supply, build a great network of highways, tear up train tracks and dream that every citizen who strives sufficiently might someday have their own idyllic home with a sizable yard and trees — a bit of rural retreat within motoring reach of the city.
Mobility — it’s how America got here in the first place, it’s part of the national character to keep moving, staking new claims, evolving. A new town and a new career. Or maybe just a new neighborhood and a longer drive to work.
What will people in the suburbs do when gas hits $10? Will they simply drive less? Give up that idea of mobility. That is already happening. But simply driving less is no insurance — the cost of everything that is trucked, every warehouse, home, shop or school that is heated and lit, every powered machine that makes every little thing — it will all add up, quickly, to increase the cost of living suddenly.
The cost of making goods in faraway lands — maquiladoras, offshore manufacturing — will suddenly increase due to shipping and storage cost increases, and the rise may even counteract and offset the cost savings of using cheap labor. All those Indonesian shoe factories and Mexican TV assemblers may not seem like such a good idea any more.
Norm had been to Ashley Beedle’s wedding the night before — DJing at the end of it. Beedle is one of the members of X-Press 2 — we did “Lazy” together and were on Top Of The Pops. I’m grateful for the chance to catch up on sleep.
