If people used cash instead of credit cards for gas for 1 mo. would it skew reporting enough to lower prices?
There are too many factors that go hand in hand to determine prices and that is way beyond the Little Man. If it were a local economy issue then you would be able to have more power over price determination but as we are talking about Global Economic forces at play it would only take a momentous shift in either many consumers opting for other energy sources to use or an increase in production at a lower cost, which is very unlikely as we have already reached peak oil and thus production costs more. So unfortunately unless Governments and consumers act more to promote local economic and sustainable practices we are going boe be forking out for high price oil, whether you pay in cash or use your plastic!