Economy

It's encouraging that even in America, gasoline demand has some price elasticity. Bicycle sales are rising, car sales are down, and gas consumption is a couple percent lower than last year. The screaming headline in today's LA Daily News is "Downsizing vehicles", and the story has even made it to Israel (with commenters noting that telecommuting likely to gain acceptance as another good way to save gas). Our ever-adaptable American car companies are innovating in their usual perceptive way: according to Newsweek, "GM is counting on a new crop of full-bodied SUVs arriving next year to drive its comeback. And though the models are still big, GM designers burnished the edges to make them look smaller."