Gasoline

I had to fill up my gas tank this morning. Prices have been rising steadily for the past few months but this is the first time I can recall paying over $2 per gallon. Gasoline has been above $2 per gallon in other parts of the country for a while — and more expensive in most of the rest of the world as well. Adjusting for inflation it’s not really a big deal but passing a price threshold has a psychological effect when you see it at the pump.

Speaking of gasoline pricing: including “9/10″ cents in the price per gallon is odd. It’s a little like pricing something as $1.99 rather than $2.00 but given the current price of gasoline, 1/10 cent per gallon is only 0.05% of the total price. I did a Google search but haven’t found a credible explanation for this pricing tradition. I found this article but it doesn’t provide a definitive answer.