Gas Prices Lower Than Expected Despite Predictions

Gas prices have fallen across the nation, shattering predictions that prices would spike this summer as a result of the usual travel Americans undertake in the warmer months.

Time magazine reports that this week, gas prices dropped to $3.50, 15 cents cheaper than last year at this time, and 45 cents down from this year’s high.

That price drop could act as a stimulus of sorts to the national economy. CNN Money estimates that the nation’s gross domestic product should increase by a little less than half of a percent of the 40 cent per gallon drop off remains.

Despite the fact that lower gas prices mean more spending money in consumer’s pockets, there are some that believe we shouldn’t let gas prices fall as far as they have.

Jim Motavalli, who covers the green auto beat for the Mother Nature Network, said that was the system needs isn’t a ceiling on gas prices, but a floor.

“I’m not running for office, so I can say that a price floor for gasoline would be a great idea that would give automakers some stable ground as they plan the future,” he wrote. “It’s an incentive not just for electric cars, but for the smaller vehicles that really should be dominating our roads.”

Most Americans of course aren’t looking for a way to keep gas prices up, but ways to save money at the pump. Time reports that the current gas price average is lower than it was year, giving some hope that the trend is heading the way of lower gas prices.