is the price of gas really going up, or is the value of the dollar going down?

You actually have a couple of things happening. 1) The price of crude oil which is refined to make gasoline has gone up in recent weeks. Increased demand by China, India, and the US also affect supply and demand. Conflict in the Middle East, refinery issues in the US, and your local state and municipal taxes on gasoline are responsible for the high prices at the pump. Don’t forget that the price of crude oil is speculative and is based on futures. 2) Crude Oil and other high value commodities are traded/valued in US Dollars. And analysts blame the devaluing dollar to the increased cost of crude oil.

I’d recommend reading this recent article on the Mother Jones Blog.

In short, it claims that the cause for the increase in the price of oil is the devaluation of the dollar.

In short, the answer is both. And more. “Boutique” refining also adds to cost. Due to a hodgepodge of formulation requirements by different states, counties, sometimes even cities, gas companies can’t sell the same gas in Chicago that they sell minutes away in Gary. They then have to maintain separate refining, storage, distribution and transportation processes, raising the overall cost.

But if you think gas prices are exorbitant, take a look at bottled water or gourmet “coffee drinks” like Starbucks.

The price if everything is going up. Remember when a bag of chips cost a nickle, now you can barely find them for a quarter. Isnt it because the Federal reserve has printed more money, backed by nothing, which devalues the money, making it cost more “dollars” to buy the same product or service. I have read that the dollar is worth only .04 as opposed to when it started in 1913. Its finally starting to catch up to us.

Chris- Although the price of everything has gone up, it’s just inflation, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Inflation is not strictly caused by the Fed increasing the money supply.I’d suggest doing some economics research

Inflation is not the sole cause of gasoline increasing in price, as gas has now reached a record high AFTER adjusting for inflation, even though there is no shortage of supply, as there was during the Carter Administration. Gas prices have gone up in the last few years faster than can be attributed to inflation.

are u talking about the 2–3% inflation rate?ive read that when the fed lowers interest rates, it encourages banks to borrow more money fron the fed, which the fed must print to supply. I have no professional economics experience, im just going by what ive read.

See this Fluther discussion on inflation.