This graphic says it even better

$5 per gallon now a reality

Self-serve regular gasoline is advertised at one-tenth of one cent less than $5.00 per gallon, with mid-grade and premium well over that mark, at a filling station in Arcadia, Calif., Friday, June 6, 2008. Oil prices shot up more than $11 to a new record above $139 per barrel of crude after Morgan Stanley predicted prices would hit $150 by July 4. (Mark J. Terrill / AP)

I hear a lot of people talking about $5 gas by the end of the year - well, I've got news for you - $5 gas is already here. So let's start revising our estimates for the prices by the end of this year. Do I hear a 6? anyone?

In India, Even Gods Are Going Hungry

Poor Struggle to Donate to Temples as Food Prices Skyrocket

Check out this story from Washington Post today. All's not well around the world. India and China - countries that are often held up as examples of rising standards of living are facing problems. Rampant inflation, specially for energy and food have begun to impact the fragile economies - much of which is reliant on the an abundant supply of cheap labor pool.

The Indian $2,500 car - 30 years too late

The time for a people's car in India was way back in the 70's. At that time, a genuine attempt but by a corrupt political administration resulted in a prototype - kinda based on the Citroen and Volkswagen model after the second world war. However, it really came to fruition in the mid-eighties when Indian government collaborated with Japanese car maker - Suzuki to start the largest car manufacturing plant in India. The price at that time was maybe around $2,000 - but the real wages at the time were very low - making it seem like a princely sum.

Anyway, had we built a cheap car then our economy would have turned out different. But hindsight is always 20-20 :-) Building a $2,500 car now is nothing but a time bomb - India, unlike US has very little oil reserves - almost all crude oil is imported - making it very vulnerable to oil price changes. An economic policy with incentives for energy efficient transportation - in form of mass transit, electric and hybrid, etc. would be critical for India to keep its momentum. I think we should tax the hell out of all cars - including the Tata $2,500 car and put that money in cheap, heavily subsidized mass transit.