I'm John Batchelor. The Lancaster County, Pennsylvania report, Jim McTag, former Washington

editor of Barron's magazine, now a novelist in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania report, Jim McTag, former Washington editor of Barron's

magazine, now a novelist in Lancaster County. The tourist season is yet to arrive, so we're looking

at the price of gasoline in a county with a mixed economy, very much representative of the rest

of Pennsylvania, light manufacturing, intellect, schools, lots of tourism, and the

Amish, of course, plus big box stores, Costco. We're going shopping for gasoline right away,

because that is the national and global story during the war in the Middle East.

Jim, a very good evening to you. I recover our prices these last weeks.

The week the war started, you reported, I believe, paying 287 or 289 at Costco, the cheapest

gasoline around you. What are you paying now? Good evening to you, Jim. Good evening, John.

$3.75. And what is most

amazing to me is that when I pulled up to the Costco gas station, there was hardly anybody there.

There's no panic buying. I mean, you would think the guys with the Ford F-150s who are paying a nose

through the nose when they fill up would be crashing into Costco, long lines.

I pulled right up to the pump. So at this juncture, there is no panic buying.

People are not topping off their tanks, anticipating that next week it's going to be $5 a gallon. And it might very well be.

Now, Jim, you recall the shortages of the 70s and the price spikes of the 70s,

73, 74, that recession under Richard Nixon.

And then 79, 80, or 81, or 82, that would be Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.

And you paid very much less, but translated into terms today, somewhere between four and four-fifty a gallon. Did you

participate in those long lines in the 70s?

I did. And in the early 70s, when Nixon was president, and we had the gas embargo,

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