On Tue, 23 May 2006 15:43:47 GMT, in a place far, far away, Fred J.
McCall made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:

::Six bucks a gallon
::would have the economy seriously in the tank.
:
:Why do you think that? Prices in Britain are currently over $7/gallon
:and they don't seem to be "seriously in the tank".
:
:Because they're long used to it, and have much more fuel-efficient
:vehicles. They're past the lag that you note above.

And that's why high gasoline prices might actually encourage an
economic boomlet in the US.

Over the longer term, perhaps. In the short term, a recession
(probably an inflationary one due to high energy costs) would almost
be guaranteed.

:And much of
:Europe's economy is in fact in the tank (though not just because of
:high fuel prices).

Which countries are in trouble now that weren't in trouble before oil
prices spiked?

None, but I was referring to their perennially high fuel prices, not
ones resulting from the recent oil spike.

Saying "not just because" is over emphasizing the case. High fuel
prices have very little to do with various European economic woes.

They're a contributor, though probably not a major one.