$3 a gallon gas has returned!

$3 a gallon gas has returned!

According to GasBuddy, as of this morning the average price of gas in the US is $3 a gallon:

This is the highest in 3 1/2 years.  YoY gas prices are up a little over 25%.

I suspect that this is a significant psychological threshold. While it’s not a “shock,” which historically has caused Americans to cut back their spending by double the increased amount that they spend on gas, causing a recession, it might very well cause a 1:1 retrenchment, which will be felt by discretionary spending like restaurants.  And, of course, it recirculates more of the currency outside of the USA into the treasuries of petroscheikhdoms.

An interesting byproduct is that the regional Fed districts which suffered the most from the downturn several years ago are turning in the best manufacturing and new orders growth in any of the districts now.