“So far, rising gasoline prices have caused only marginal damage to the vast U.S. economy. Lower-end retailers, like Wal-Mart and Family Dollar, complain that high gas prices are cutting into their sales. American Airlines has canceled several flights, and the White House has issued a halfhearted plea for conservation.

“But while drivers may groan about the high price of gas, they haven’t changed their consuming habits drastically—and if my Slate colleague Austan Goolsbee is right, they won’t unless the high prices persist for five year,” writes Slate Magazine’s Daniel Gross.

“But high prices for another form of energy are about to brutalize Americans. October signals the beginning of the winter heating season. The high price of heating fuel—a problem that has been hibernating in the spring and summer—is about to become an enormous issue in the northern half of the country.”