The Olympics start this weekend, with the opening ceremony Friday night. During the Olympic events, when they talk about records, are they only talking about the last 20 or 30 years? Nope, they're talking about the records no matter when they were set. It wouldn't matter if the record were set 100 years ago. That's what "record" means.

Even in recent history, today's oil prices aren't record highs when adjusted for inflation. Those who say so are intellectually lazy or uninformed. Like I said, today's prices are high. They just aren't record highs. The only way to compare things like prices over time is to adjust for inflation, otherwise, the comparison is meaningless.

As a trivial example, I remember being able to buy a soda for 10 cents in 1963. Adjusted for inflation, that's equivalent to 62 cents today according to the handy inflation calculator at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The soda machine down the hall charges 55 cents for a soda, so in real dollar terms the price is cheaper today than it was in 1963, at least here at work. I've seen it much more expensive elsewhere.

A more pertinent example involves the price of gasoline. You could buy gas for 26 cents per gallon at independent stations back in 1973, at least where I lived. That's equivalent to $1.11 a gallon today. The name-brand stations typically charged 34 cents per gallon back then, which is equivalent to $1.45 today. However, prices doubled following the '73 OPEC oil embargo with a typical price being 55 cents in 1974. That's equivalent to $2.12 today. The local price of gas never got that high here this year, and I saw it for $1.76 yesterday at Sam's. In real dollar terms, gas is cheaper today than it was in 1974. Furthermore, I remember paying a typical price of $1.26 a gallon in 1982. That's equivalent to $2.48 today. In real dollar terms, gas is much cheaper today than it was then (at least here - I paid $2.50 a gallon in Nevada last April), "record price" rhetoric notwithstanding.