The recent plunge in gas prices has been welcome relief for many, but today’s price at the pump still isn’t what it used to be in nominal and inflation-adjusted real terms, reports the Wall Street Journal.
From 1986 to 2003, the annual average price of gas, adjusted for inflation, was $2.06 a gallon and bottomed out at $1.51 in 1998. On Thursday, the national average price was $2.23 a gallon.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that in 2015, the average price per gallon will be $2.57.
“Not bad–but not 1998,” says the Journal. “Prices would have to fall another buck before cheap gas, historically speaking, go really cheap again.”