This to me shows that the high fuel prices we are experiencing need to be dealt with, in some ways we are becoming more efficient which is a good thing, we are spending less time driving, allowing us to be more productive. However if people are also forced to leave a job due to fuel prices we are losing efficiency, which is a big problem. I don’t think the solution is to lower the price of gas but to get off it, but what needs to be done is something I am not sure of and for another post, but I can say that something needs to be done soon.

For more on the effects of fuel prices see Greg Mankiw’s series “Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand”