Originally Posted by wahoonc
I think the threshold for gas prices is going to be a lot higher than that before you see any major disruption. It is going to take $7-$10 a gallon and limited supplies to stop most Americans from driving. Unfortunately it is going to hit the working poor first, which will have a trickle down effect. Joe Suburbia that makes $100k+ a year can probably suck it up and still survive just fine at $4 a gallon, might have to give up a couple of rounds of golf every month and take his kids out of the ritzy private school. But the people that are really going to get smacked are the blue collar and service workers that are living pay check to paycheck and driving the miles to a minimum wage job somewhere, because they can't afford to live in the sprawl near the jobs.
Aaron
Hey, gas here is already about $7 a gallon, and so far no disruption.... so we could probably go more. Every fill up in my car is at least $100, and there are still traffic jams here, just not as much in the US. Biking to work saves me real money.
What is going to hurt the most is a radical change, people will have to sell their SUVs and change their lifestyles if there is a sudden spike in costs. That is when people complain. But we can adapt to reality look outside the USA for solutions and ways of adapting.