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Some people complain they are being gouged at the pump, but raising prices now in anticipation of what might happen helps ensure an adequate gas supply.
The rapid growth in China and India has led to an increase in demand for oil, which, in turn, has driven up prices. After adjusting for inflation, a barrel of oil today costs about what it did during the 1979 oil shock.
To protect the economy in the short run, the Fed acted quickly on five fronts to provide emergency liquidity. But in the long run, no major change in monetary policy should be needed because the fundamentals of the economy remain solid.
