How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck

Re:How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck by diego on Sunday July 12, 2009 @01:46PM (#700359)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:How The Average U.S. Consumer Spends Their Paycheck by olihb on Sunday July 12, 2009 @05:11PM (#700586)

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.

[ Parent | on HN ]