Why Gas Prices Move Asymmetrically

When gas prices skyrocket, do station owners get a windfall? And where do their profits really come from? Zachary Crockett pulls up to the pump.

• SOURCES:
  • Garrett Golding, assistant vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
  • Jeetander P. Sethi, founding member of the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association.
  • Kai Trimble-Lea, owner of a B.P. gas station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Top Numbers Driving America's Gasoline Demand," by Lem Smith (American Petroleum Institute, 2022).
  • "Electric Cars Are Coming. How Long Until They Rule the Road?" by Brad Plumer, Nadja Popovich and Blacki Migliozzi (The New York Times, 2021).
  • "Petroleum & Other Liquids," (U.S. Energy Information Administration).

• EXTRAS:
  • "In the 1890s, the Best-Selling Car Was … Electric," by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
  • "Is it Too Late for General Motors to Go Electric?" by Freakonomics Radio (2020).

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.