Three professors talk about rising gas prices and their possible effect on this year’s presidential election.

Professor F. John Mathis, director of the Global Financial Services Center at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, says he does not anticipate a gas crisis or shortage.  Professors Dennis Hoffman and Gerry Keim from Arizona State’s W.P. Carey School of Business discuss politicians who claim to be able to lower gas prices. Keim says that politicians know many people do not understand the nuances of the political system, so they take advantage of voters by saying they can do things like lower the price of certain goods. Hoffman says that in the United States people have grown to see cheap gas as a birthright, and politicians seize on that emotion to get more votes. The truth is, it doesn’t matter who is in office, gas prices are determined by the market.