Energy deja vu

With the Michigan economy suffering through yet another assault from high gas prices and plummeting auto sales, and the entire nation gripped with anxiety, it's instructive to look back to the late seventies and early eighties and remind ourselves that this "crisis" is not exactly unexpected. Take a minute to rediscover the energy policies of a very unpopular president — Jimmy Carter — and the man many consider the most successful leader in the modern era — Ronald Reagan. (Apologies for the low volume on the man from Plains, Georgia.)

Who had the right approach?

Expensive ride

Forget the sticker price, what's the true cost of owning a behemoth like the Ford F-250? According to The New York Times, if you keep it five years, drive it about 15,000 miles a year, and gas stays at around $4 a gallon, it's $100,000. The gas alone would set you back $30,000.