Telling it like it is in the Great Plains

We thought you all might like this comment on gas prices and overall spending from one of our tax contacts in the Great Plains:

I think of savings on gas as pre-spent money. Spending on gas is inelastic, and the average consumer saves about $1,500 a year [for every dollar drop in price]. For the working-class person that $1,500 may have already been spent. Now, instead of being $150 in the hole each month, they are only in for $25. That would explain why the $500 payment back in 2001 didn’t provide substantial gains, and why we didn’t see an increase in spending when gas prices halved.