Let’s Go Out The Coast, Have A Few Laughs

Let’s Go Out The Coast, Have A Few Laughs

Rahul Mahajan is the author of a couple books about the U.S.’s involvement with Iraq. He is currently in Iraq making daily updates to his blog from Baghdad and Fallujah. It’s an interesting read.

One of Rahul’s books is about how we are going to Iraq to secure our oil reserves. It is something I have been thinking a bit about recently. I am not an expert but I read and I can make some basic observations based on what I see. So bare with me because this might start to sound a little silly:

I was watching “Die Hard” the other night. (See I told you.) The first one. The good one. In the beginning of the film, they set the stage for all the guns and explosions that happen later. We see John McClain on the plane, his wife in the office while the Christmas party is getting started, and the ominous truck driving around Los Angeles that we later find out is full of bad guys.

Here’s the point: In one of the shots of the truck, it drives by a gas station where you can clearly see that the price of gas in Los Angeles at the time of the movie, 1988, was $0.74 a gallon. Right now in Los Angeles, gas at most stations costs about $2.29 a gallon–and that’s basic unleaded. So in 16 years, the price of gas has tripled in the same market. That’s a huge increase in price!

Maybe that’s to be expected. Maybe base salaries have tripled in 16 years. Maybe inflation on consumer goods across the boards has increased that much. Like I said, I’m no expert. But it is something to think about.