This may be part of the issue, but it is not all of the reason behind the rising gas prices. How much a barrel of oil costs has a lot to do with whether gas prices are rising, and since much of the oil comes from the Middle East, it is a factor. However, there are gas stations across the country that the do not buy gasoline from the Middle East, and instead purchase it from gasoline suppliers and oil suppliers that can be found within the United States and other countries (Joyner, 2005). For quite some time, the Internet and e-mail boxes of various individuals seemed to be filled with requests to purchase gasoline only at stations that did not buy oil from the Middle East. However, this will not actually fix the issue of rising gas prices, nor will it fix any of the other issues related to the Middle East that America seems to be facing. .

             Another reason that gas prices are rising so rapidly is simply demand. The idea of supply and demand controls much of the issue with rising gas prices (DeWeese, 2005). More individuals are driving, the population of America is getting larger, minimum wage has been raised in many states, and there are many other issues going on with the economy that affects how much Americans are willing to spend and what they are willing to do. Because the demand for gasoline is high, the prices go up (DeWeese, 2005). If no one was purchasing gasoline then the stations would have to lower their prices in order to entice individuals to buy gasoline. However, there are so many people that are purchasing gasoline now that many of the stations are aware of the fact that they can raise their prices to whatever they want them to be as long as they stay reasonably in line with other stations in the area, and they will still have plenty of customers lining up to buy their gasoline. .

             Naturally, the reasons behind why gas prices are rising are important but how gas prices and their rise is affecting the economy is even more significant.