I just finished reading a very good book called Freakonomics. The authors shed some light on some unknown correlations between everyday information. This is all done through the perspective of economics, but is written in a easily understood, yet informative way. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Among the correlations and conclusions drawn is the apparent cheating of school teachers for pay incentives, the correlation between legalized abortion and lower crime rates, nature versus nurture in regards to a child's school test scores, and the importance of having the 'right' name. These topics bring to light some interesting correlations while putting others to rest as myths. For instance, children who watch more television do NOT do worse in school than children who do not watch a lot of television. There is no correlation between the two.

Now then, I'd like to relate some of this to my own blog entries. If you've been here before, you know that I have taken issue with the rising price of gas. So a good economic question to ask is "Are gas prices too high?". The answer, surprisingly, is No. From an economic stand point, price points are set based on the balance of supply and demand. Since the price point of gasoline has been increasing with no major change in demand, it can be said that gas prices are not too high, and that gas was, in fact, under priced before. If people are able and willing to pay $3.00 a gallon, the laws of economics would say that this is an appropriate price point.

This, however, contradicts posts that I have made griping about these rising costs. But, in my view, just because the laws of economics say that these are fair price points, doesn't mean I can't complain about them.