It’s Friday. Let’s do some math.
At the nearest drug store I just bought a liter of Talking Rain Spring Water for $1.29. Ounce for ounce spring water is more than five times as costly as crude oil—even though crude was selling for almost $40 per barrel today, a 13-year high. Or put another way: if crude oil cost as much as my bottled water, it would be $205 per barrel.
Of course the gasoline you buy at the station is a lot pricier than unrefined oil. But the last time I filled up, I shelled out $2.11 per gallon. If gasoline cost as much as spring water, prices at the filling station would register $4.88 per gallon.
(Yes, yes, I realize that my comparison is a little silly, because spring water isn’t critical to the nation’s economic infrastructure. Still, I think the numbers are quirky enough to make for cocktail conversation this weekend.)
