Gasoline Gets Political, But Voter Memory is Short

April 15, 2024--Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With seven months to go before the U.S. presidential election, the economy remains a lingering concern, with gasoline prices supporting resilient consumer-level inflation. Recent polling from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs show would-be voters are not impressed with either incumbent President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump, but for varying reasons.

Consumer prices were up 9.1% year-on-year in July 2022 on the back of post-pandemic bottlenecks and soaring demand. Inflation has since moderated, but remains higher than the 2% target rate set by the U.S. Federal Reserve.