Current gas prices are staggering and recent economic data are showing the impact that high prices are having on our pocketbooks. The Department of Commerce just released inflation data that show that the rate of inflation in 2007 was 4.2% overall. The year before it was just around 2%, and experts say that current gas prices are having a major impact on our inflation rate. The two elements that are driving the inflation rate so high are the cost of fuel and the cost of food, neither of which any of us can live without. We all know that current gas prices are driven by the price of oil which is at record highs right now, and although a barrel of oil fluctuates in price daily, the overall impact of the high price of this commodity is having a negative impact on consumers.
Besides current gas prices, the price of food is being affected by farmers who are raising more corn that will be sold to produce ethanol as an alternative to gasoline to fuel gas powered engines. As the demand for corn rises, the cost goes up, too, and since almost all food is made with corn or its derivatives, the cost will continue to rise.