Gas price: It's all about government policy. Gasoline costs roughly the same to make no matter where in the world it's produced, according to John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute. The difference in retail costs, he said, is that some governments subsidize gas while others tax it heavily.
I find this interesting. So we're up 21% in usage while France is down 17% over the same period. France has high gas prices and lots of public transportation, we have low gas prices and horrible public transportation.
Who is subsidizing prices? While he's right about gas being the same price to make, this guy ignores distribution costs.