Lower Gas Prices Don't Make Americans Feel Rich

“Lower Gas Prices Don’t Make Americans Feel Rich” was the headline that caught my attention this morning in the New York Times. The basic lead used also held my attention by providing enough information to keep me interested in what the rest of the article was about. I find articles about gas prices intriguing because it affects me personally. I believe it is important to keep up with everything going on with the economy, especially the rise and fall of gas prices.

The article lived up to the headline that drew me in, and kept me interested until the end. It talked about the fluctuation of the prices over the past several months. Gas below $1.50 a gallon has recently appeared in a few places, and the national average has dropped almost in half since July, to $2.18 a gallon. The article also focused on a number of consumers and their fear about the broader economy. Each 10-cent drop in prices saves consumers about $12 billion a year. Instead of spending that cash, people are trying to save it or cut their debt. Despite this current drop in gas prices, people are concerned prices will once again rise.

Lower gasoline prices have followed a rapid drop to less than $59 a barrel, from more than $145 a barrel in July. It is believed that gas prices are close to bottoming out and that the national average will linger around $2 a gallon through the holidays before creeping up in 2009.

The article was well organized and did not jump around from one thing to another. It talked about the facts and then gave quotes from several different consumers. It provided readers with all the information they needed followed by a lot of support to back up what was being reported. The story communicated its central idea by linking its main points together. All of the information and statistics were givenwere linked together by quotes.

When I finished the article I was surprised to have learned that people are saving an average of $12 billion dollars a year from the drop in gas prices. I had no idea that the slight drop in prices is saving consumers that much money. I also did not know that gas was as low as $1.50 a gallon in some places in the U.S. What I was left questioning about the article was the credibility of the people that were quoted. How and why were they chosen to represent consumers?