ABC NEWS News 7. How Much Is the Gas Price Affecting Consumer Spending?

[NUKE209]

[NEW WORDS]
  ♧ consumer spending : n. 소비

  ♧ pose (to) : v. ~자세를 취하다, (위협적인 모습을) 보이다

  ♧ ripple effect : n. 파급효과

  ♧ eat up : v. 소비하다, 다 먹어버리다, 차지하다

  ♧ tax refund payable : n. 지불 만기의 세금 환급

  ♧ strain : n. 긴장, 부담

  ♧ bottom line : n. (결산서의) 맨 밑줄, (계산된) 순익(손실)

  ♧ dire : a. 무서운, 비참한, 긴박한

  ♧ stretch : v. 잡아 늘이다, 극도로 긴장시키다

  ♧ draw a paycheck : 급료 등을 지불하다

  ♧ disconcert : v. 당황하게 하다, 쩔쩔매게하다

  ♧ breach : v. (성벽, 방어선 등을) 돌파하다

  We're going to take a closer look tonight at the risk that rising prices pose to the overall economy. Nationwide, a gallon of gasoline now costs an average of a dollar seventy six. These higher prices are having a ripple effect.

  Most of the nation's 190 million drivers have no choice about paying record gas prices.

  "What are you going to do, you know, walk to work?" Since January, the cost of getting where you need to go has become a lot more expensive. Filling up the most popular SUV has jumped from an average of $33 a tank to more than $39. Economists say that extra $6 is a direct tax on consumers, big enough to eat up the entire $30 billion tax refund payable this spring. "And that means that the consumer spending just won't be quite as strong. And that means the broader economy just won't be quite as strong either."

  The strain is evident around the country. Truckers say every extra penny at the pump costs the industry $300 million a year. The airlines tried and failed to pass on higher fuel costs to the flying public. For now, the extra $12 million a day comes off the bottom line.

  "If things don't change, the major carriers are going to be in dire shape."
  Higher gas prices are stretching public school budgets. The city of Chicago says it will cost $2 million more to run its school buses. In San Francisco, the owner of this plumbing company has stopped drawing a paycheck. He says if he tried to pass the cost of fueling 12 trucks to his customers, he might lose them. "I would like to say I see an end in sight, but I don't."

  The longer prices stay high, the greater the risk to a fragile economy. "It's very disconcerting to see gasoline prices at a record high, and it's something everyone sees every single day."

  Well, it will be even more disconcerting if the national average price for regular unleaded gets to $2 a gallon, which is where some energy analysts think it is headed this summer. And, of course that $2 a gallon level has already been breached in many cities around the country.