Rising Gas Prices, Declining Dollar

One of the big reasons for high oil prices is the decline of the dollar. Since oil is purchased in dollars, marketed in dollars, sold in dollars, the 40% decline in the dollar in the last six years has caused a dramatic increase in the cost of oil. This increase in the cost of oil then produces an equally dramatic increase in the cost of gas. Lets do a little calculation here if the dollar has lost 40% of its value in the last 6 years that would not effect domestically made and bought items and materials  much, but it would dramatically increase the cost of foreign resources  i.e. oil. So in today's dollar for example gas is around $4 a gallon. Factoring out the decline of the dollar that same gallon of gas would be about $2.40 a gallon right now. The decline in the dollar helps in some ways the marketing of our products worldwide because it makes them cheaper, but in hurts us in the long run because it makes things we buy from foreign sources that much more expensive. Since we buy over 60% of our oil from foreign sources a devalued dollar is killing us at the pump. The cause of the decline of the dollar consists of many factors. One of the factors has been the poor fiscal policy of the federal government. The bloated budget deficits are a big factor. Another more prominent factor in my opinion is the poor monetary policies of the Fed. The rampant and rapid printing of more and more dollars is causing a crisis in high energy prices and if left unchecked this will lead to further devaluing of the dollar and hyperinflationism. Other more recent developments causing increases at the pump are the crisis's in Libya and the rest of the middle east.