John posted this morning on the WSJ Morning Report quote of the day. The quote comes from a story in the New York Times yesterday. Well, on Tuesday I got a call from Kirk Johnson at the New York Times wanting to interview me for a story he was doing on the sociology of gas prices. That's the story John quotes from the WSJ which quotes from the NYTimes.
I spent 15 minutes on the phone with Reporter Johnson talking about things like:
Wealthier people have more choices than others in how and whether to adapt — to drive just as much or buy an expensive hybrid vehicle.
and
Other experts say the nation’s shifting economic, demographic and urban terrain in recent years — greater disparity of rich and poor than in the 1970’s, and more transportation options than a generation ago, including mass transit rail lines in more cities and hybrid cars — is making this spike different.
Unfortunately I didn't really have anything new to add to the story, other than reinforce what Reporter Johnson already knew from others. I haven't done any academic research on gas prices, so I couldn't refer to my own research on the topic. There really wasn't much there for Reporter Johnson to quote.
But, had Reporter Johnson mentioned that he was going to take the 'people lie on surveys' angle, then I could have jumped in with chapter and verse from John and my own research on hypothetical bias and John and I would have been quoted in the New York Times. Instead, I'll have to live out the rest of my career as just an 'other expert.'
