Out of Gas

I really miss my previous car Flivver (a 1992 Geo Storm because a Lotus Elan would be too extravagant) which used to give me 30+ MPG. Though I enjoy its powerful 2.4L engine, my current car peaks about 25 MPG on the road. As I cringe at the soaring gas price, I'm dreading an upcoming visit to the local gas station. I even long for those days when I didn't own a car. Since 2003, my discretionary spending has been heavily curtailed by the gas price. The shrinks ought to define a new form of depression: anxiety attacks induced by high gas price.

It's widely reported that the rise of China is partly to blame for the recent surge in oil price. With both China and India growing increasingly wealthy, the US consumers have to get used to expensive gas one way or the other. An optimist may believe that new technology will afford us a viable energy alternative (solar-powered cars?) while a pessimist contemplates doomsday scenarios (geopolitical wars!) down the road. However, I am naively hopeful that the invisible hand will come to the rescue. As there'll be more cars on the roads in Asia, there'll be much more gas consumption (2 billion drivers there v. 200 million in America), pushing the gas price to go way up. Soon, most people cannot afford to drive, which will therefore decrease the demand (the supply might be incidentally dried up then), which will also reduce air pollution and traffic congestion (fringe benefits?). Isn't that a horrible prospect?!