Gasoline prices, consumer behavior, and the new economic resilience
May 20, 2026
(Oil & Gas 360) By Greg Barnett, MBA – For decades, the conventional economic narrative held that rising gasoline prices act as a direct tax on consumers, reducing discretionary spending and slowing economic growth. That framework still exists in textbooks, but real-world behavior—especially in the post-2020 environment—suggests the relationship has fundamentally evolved. The modern U.S. consumer is not responding to
