The Oil Factor

Our columnist on why gas prices are soaring—and why they haven't hurt the brisk U.S. economy. Yet.

By Robert J. Samuelson
Newsweek

May 8, 2006 issue - The United States has the energy policy it deserves, although not the one that it needs. Having been told for years that their addiction to cheap gasoline was on a collision course with increasingly insecure supplies of foreign oil, Americans are horrified to discover that this is actually the case. And yet, for all the public outcry and political hysteria over high gasoline prices, they haven't yet significantly hurt the economy—and may not do so. Since 2003, the economy has grown about 3.6 percent annually. It's still advancing briskly. That may be the real news.

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