Gas prices in the last decade have been more volatile than the previous half century.  The extreme example was in Sept. 2007 to Dec. 2008, when prices soared 38 percent, then fell 56 percent, and then jumped 48 percent. But overall, the average gas price for the last 12 months was 78 percent higher than in 2000 (measured in 2011 dollars). One thing that hasn't changed, however, is that the price of gas in the United States is almost entirely determined by the world price of crude oil. A simple rule of thumb is that the U.S. gas price will be about $1.20 above the price of crude. (Remember …

As everyone undoubtedly has noticed, gas prices are again shooting up. And when something bad happens, it's human nature to look for someone to blame. With gas prices that someone is always the big oil companies and/or the government. That is wrong. Texas Tea Gas prices are overwhelmingly determined by the world price of crude oil [look at the chart to see how closely they track] and neither the companies nor the government controls that. Such wasn't always the case. In the 50s and 60s the US set the world oil price, and kept it at about $3 per barrel in current prices. We had that power …