I have a different take. What allowed the prices to be driven so high to begin with? (and my point was about the great recession)

Remember, I am not an economist, just observant... my observations told me that people running up to 08 were leveraged to the hilt and money/debt was free flowing and cheap. An entire excess economy was built on the backs of inflated home prices and loans being taken for more than the current value.

After the pop, after money dried up... and people could no longer pay the piper, that is when gas prices became a secondary issue.

My example goes for boats, RV's, toys, vehicles and yes - houses at the time. Everything was inflated - based on fake money and fake values of assets.

My point was - they crashed... and didn't come back cheaper. That is what I was really saying. Boats came back more expensive, cars/trucks came back more expensive... and so on and so on - and by expensive, I mean when compared to the price in relation to household income.

And that is what I see now - the cost of just about everything is so far out of whack when compared to household incomes... from the beginning - college/education, to the price of cars, to house values or rent - all have surpassed what dual incomes can afford.