Putin is responsible for the hike in US gas prices-- nearly 3 weeks of them. Putin's Price Hike? 5 dates show it isn't.
What Is The Real Story?
Although people around the world know the reality regarding the increase in gasoline prices, some people in the US are trying to tell another story. Five key dates tell the real story, and anyone can just look it up to confirm. The chart below shows a graph of weekly US gas prices from 2017-03-13 through 2022-03-07:
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See Footnotes for image details:[2]
1. 2017-03-13 -- @ USD 2.400
Although this date is nearly 2 months into the Trump administration, it's a good enough baseline. He is starting his plan to make the US energy independent; lower prices are a side effect of his plans.
2. 2018-05-28 -- USD 3.069
This is the highest price USD would be under Trump. Although prices fall and rise multiple times after that date, they never reach this level again under Trump.
3. 2020-04-27 -- USD 1.870
This is the lowest price for US gas in decades. While partly due to the start of the global pandemic, even rises in prices don't cause concern.
4. 2021-01-18 -- USD 2.464
With 2 days before another US president is inaugurated, gas prices show a net rise of 6.4 cents from 2017-03-13. Had the chart gone back earlier than that date, gas prices would have shown a net drop in prices.
5. 2022-02-21 -- USD 3.624
From a baseline price of USD 2.464, US gas prices had increased USD 1.160 over just 13 months. Putin would send forces into Ukraine 3 days later. The major driver for this major jump in prices is the energy policy Biden implemented just hours after taking office.
👉📈 Putin's Price Hike: USD +0.572
The chart was current through 2022-03-07, when gas was at USD 4.196.
Gas prices increased a bit more by 2202-02-24, so the spike since then is a bit less than USD 0.572. Between then and today, the average US price of gas only increased.
👉📈 US Gas Price Rise under Biden: USD +1.732
While Biden can blame Putin for a price rise of 0.572, Biden must account for the rise of nearly 1.160 which took place since Inauguration Day. Even if Putin had behanved himself, US gas prices would have continued trending higher.
Just My Two Sats
Although Putin's actions didn't help, the average price per gallon of US gas was on an upward trajectory which would have continued Putin or no Putin. Even if we can blame Putin for USD 0.572 of that rise, the previous rise of USD 1.160 was all Biden. The Trump prices were provided for reference only.
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Footnotes:
"Short Post" brand image made using SVG. Banner text made using HTML and CSS. Light edits made using MS Paint. ↩
Chart source: YCharts.com at https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_gas_price. Heavily edited using MS Paint to include "Putin's Price Hike" additions. ↩