Among a box of old papers and other junk, I dug (sorry, should
that be doug?) out an old petrol receipt from 1987. It was 29.32
litres of 4-star, which makes it 37.5 p per litre.
So in 21 years, the price is a little more that trebled. Compared
to other things (OK, excluding tech.) that doesn't sound too bad.

-- 
. Pete Lynch          I have learned from my mistakes and
. Marlow          ... I am sure I can repeat them exactly
. www.pete-lynch.com               --- Peter Cooke.

"Peter Lynch" <pete@freyr.local> wrote in message 
news:slrng6nbts.i42.pete@freyr.local...
> Among a box of old papers and other junk, I dug (sorry, should
> that be doug?) out an old petrol receipt from 1987. It was 29.32
> litres of 4-star, which makes it 37.5 p per litre.
> So in 21 years, the price is a little more that trebled. Compared
> to other things (OK, excluding tech.) that doesn't sound too bad.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/historic-inflation-calculator suggests that 
37.5p at 1987 prices would be worth 75.4 p at today's prices - an increase 
of (75.4-37.5)/37.5 = 101% as opposed to the actual increase of 
(120-37.5)/37.5 = 220% (I think petrol is about 120p - I used diesel so 
that's the price I know better).

Diesel has probably gone up by a greater factor. I think in the late 80s 
diesel was still a bit cheaper than petrol and now it's more expensive - 
typically 130p. Still, running my diesel car (Peugeot 306 2 litre - 50 mpg) 
is cheaper than my older petrol car (VW Golf 1.8 litre - 37 mpg).

Yes, look at the price this time last year then again this year. The problem 
hasn't been a steady inflation but the massive hike over a short term.