Liquid Prices

In today's weekly column, Seattle Times editorial page editor James Vesely laments the high price of gasoline: "At the pump, the movie never ends"

Those little brass cap-lock keys became ubiquitous on key rings and they will certainly return again as gasoline becomes more expensive than any other liquid we use in our lives

Vesely probably didn't bother to consult any actual numbers before making this ridiculous claim. Gasoline is a long way from becoming the most expensive liquid we use in our lives. In fact, it's one of the least expensive liquids we use in our lives. Here's a table comparing the price of gasoline with other common liquids -- coffee beverages at my neighborhood cafe and prices at QFC for the three liquids that happend to be in my shopping basket this evening (recall that 1 gallon = 128 fluid oz.)

	Price per familiar unit	Price per gallon
Gasoline (regular unleaded, Chevron N 45th St. Seattle)	$3.059 / gallon	$3.059
Caffe Latte (triple shot)	$3.77 / 16 oz.	$30.16
Espresso (single shot)	$1.65 / 1 oz.	$211.20
Campbell's Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup	$1.69 / 10 oz.	$21.63
Talking Rain Sparkling Water	$2.99 / 4 16 oz bottles	$5.98
Suave Shampoo	$1.49 / 15 oz.	$12.72

Okay, comparing liquids by unit volume isn't necessarily fair. So compare instead the amount of each liquid that one typically consumes in a single day -- The average single-occupancy commuter uses roughly 1 gallon of gas a day ¹ (unless you're an environmental activist politician like Mayor Greg Nickels and you use 5 gallons of gas a day). The person who consumes a gallon of gas a day still spends less on gas in an entire day than he would spend at a mass market restaurant for a large latte, a bowl of soup or an alcoholic beverage.