Gasoline Poses Risk For Biden Despite Easing Of Pump Prices

President Biden may get a rare piece of good news this weekend, with gas prices expected to be lower than in the past few years.

• Axios reports: “The national average sits at $3.51 per gallon, down from $3.54 a year ago and $4.79 during the holiday weekend in 2022, according to AAA data. Nearly 61 million people will travel by car this weekend, according to AAA's holiday forecast — a new record.”
• Bloomberg noted this week: “Gasoline, and energy costs in general, aren’t taking a particularly high share of disposable personal income. By that measure, Biden’s record, even including the impact of price spikes two years ago, barely differs from that of former President Donald Trump...”
• But, Bloomberg adds: “Swing state drivers also tend to pay a bit more at the pump and have suffered a slightly bigger price increase since Biden took office, $1.12 per gallon versus $1.06 nationally.”
• Daniel Yergin wrote in an FT op-edin June that Biden “could have a petrol problem”, noting that “political incumbents get blamed for higher petrol prices, even if their influence is limited”: “…[prices] could certainly go higher with the summer increase in demand, as motorists take to the road, and the risk grows of an Israel-Hizbollah war that could draw in Iran. On top of that, the onset of hurricane season adds the danger of a major storm disrupting the huge oil complex in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Gulf coast.”