Advocacy & Safety - ... why does the price of cigarettes = the price of gas?

Here is an interesting thing... and I am not sure what it has to do with bicycling yet, but I will figure that out later..

Why does a pack of cigarettes seem to be pegged to the price of a gallon of gasoline?

1960's - pack of smokes = $.30, gallon of gas = $.30
1970's - pack of smokes = $.78, gallon of gas = $.76
1980's - pack of smokes = $1.60, gallon of gas = ~$1.60
1990's - pack of smokes = $2.50, gallon of gas = ~$2.50
2000's - pack of smokes = $3.20 to $4.00, gallon of gas $3.30 to $4.00

I am not a smoker, but I was going past the local gas station and mistook the price of cigs for the price of gas on the marque. It got me to thinking how closely tied the price of cigarettes has been to the price of gas since like... forever.

my dad loves this analogy - I've heard him repeat this one at least 50 times.

Interesting.

But I guess it does also depend on where you live. Here the price of cigarettes is well over $5.00. I think gas today is $3.60ish.

It's gotta be some kind of conspiracy/cartel/trilateral commission thingy.

1990's - pack of smokes = $2.50, gallon of gas = ~$2.50


Not sure if this really plays out.
I distinctly remember buying .99/gallon gas in 1996 at a Florida RaceTrac station (cash only please...)

It's gotta be some kind of conspiracy/cartel/trilateral commission thingy.

Yeah, it's called the value of a dollar... :rolleyes:

I didn't start driving until 01' and I remember gas costing $.99 for a few months. Then it went over $1.00 and never dropped back under. It didn't get to $2.50 for a while. Perhaps it was just where I lived.

in nj, non-generic cigarettes are going for $5.75 to $7.00 per pack, plus tax.
gasoline is at about $3.60 per gallon, so this equation/hypothosis does not work yet for 2008!

Here is an interesting thing... and I am not sure what it has to do with bicycling yet, but I will figure that out later..

Why does a pack of cigarettes seem to be pegged to the price of a gallon of gasoline?

1960's - pack of smokes = $.30, gallon of gas = $.30
1970's - pack of smokes = $.78, gallon of gas = $.76
1980's - pack of smokes = $1.60, gallon of gas = ~$1.60
1990's - pack of smokes = $2.50, gallon of gas = ~$2.50
2000's - pack of smokes = $3.20 to $4.00, gallon of gas $3.30 to $4.00

I am not a smoker, but I was going past the local gas station and mistook the price of cigs for the price of gas on the marque. It got me to thinking how closely tied the price of cigarettes has been to the price of gas since like... forever.

They're both really cheap?

*ducks*

in nj, non-generic cigarettes are going for $5.75 to $7.00 per pack, plus tax.
gasoline is at about $3.60 per gallon, so this equation/hypothosis does not work yet for 2008!

Gas will catch up.

I've noticed the same thing, but cigs float near gas as far price goes fairly loosely; one or the other will fluctuate more at different times.

The link is that both are prime ways we have chosen to poison ourselves....

Hmmm...what does this have to do with A&S? http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/smiley/question_posticon.gif

Sounds like
http://hacks.mit.edu/Hacks/by_year/1996/foo_bar/foo_small.gif

-Kurt

Not sure if this really plays out.
I distinctly remember buying .99/gallon gas in 1996 at a Florida RaceTrac station (cash only please...)


Yeah, gas prices didn't start this meteoric rise until 2002. I remember how incensed I was when it hit $1.50/gal in 2004.

When I was a smoker I seemed more upset by the price of gas but now I'm wondering if I had realized the prices where the same if I would have quit sooner

I'd like to see the price of gas == the price of smokes around here.

I just quit smoking last year, but I remember paying over $7.00 for a pack of Luckys.