Judging by the amount of public comment in English-language media, the world is on the brink of derangement about the state of gasoline prices.
U.S. gas prices hit a record level earlier this month. Limiting “the pain the American people are feeling at the gas pump” was one of the main objectives President Joe Biden set out in responding to the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month. The situation has even been blamed for the sinking of Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to become vice chair of the Federal Reserve.
That seems justified by public interest in the subject. Going ...