Uncommon Indicator: Gas at $3 Per Gallon

At first blush, the imminent rise of gasoline prices to about $3 per gallon is not such great news. Who, after all, can afford to spend considerably more on anything these days, let alone on something many of us use almost every day?

But a longer view suggests that rising gas prices signals rising demand, which means that more folks have more places to drive and require more fuel to get there (hopefully the places they are driving are jobs and not pawn shops.)

What should be worrisome, some...