I met very few people who complain that the price of gas is 'killing them'. What you hear is the voice of a minority who either spend much more on gas or just like to complain about it.
Edit: why the downvote? Doesn't it make sense that those who are vocal about how gas prices are killing them are those who spend _way more_ than the 'average consumer unit'?
If gas represents 20% of your income instead of 5%, you are much more likely to complain when prices go up. This will be the case for people who make less than average, have long commutes and older cars.
Maybe it's because people make such a big deal about it. You see the price of gas a couple of times each time you got to work and news anchors will do a story about the price of gas each time it goes up a couple cents. In contrast, we never see the price of bread or jam as often as we see the price of gas. I guess it's an observational bias.
Edit: why the downvote? Doesn't it make sense that those who are vocal about how gas prices are killing them are those who spend _way more_ than the 'average consumer unit'?
If gas represents 20% of your income instead of 5%, you are much more likely to complain when prices go up. This will be the case for people who make less than average, have long commutes and older cars.