1970’s gas lines more powerful than prices?

March 27, 2008 by Rob.

I had an interesting geopolitical lunch conversation and someone suggested that people during the 70s bought small cars to avoid the gas lines not because of the price.  The observation immediately rang true to me.

My memory of the 70s gas crisis was of watching my parents wait in long lines and search for open stations.  People install ed locks on their gas caps to keep people from stealing their hard won gas.  It got so bad that for a while, you could only buy gas on specific days of the week - it was illegal to pump gas on your off day!

The major difference between today’s high gas prices and the last peak is that there is still plenty of supply.  It’s painful to pay more at the pump, but it’s fatal when your Hummer is stranded because you can’t fill it until next Wednesday.

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