Materials prices continue to dominate the economic news. The Energy Information Administration reported recently that the national average retail price of on-highway diesel fuel rose 3 cents this week to $1.68. The average in California jumped 15 cents to $2.16, following a 12-cent spurt last week.

Under the headline, “Price Increases in Asia Fan Inflation Fears in U.S.”, today's Wall Street Journal (p. A1) reports, “raw materials, including scrap steel and copper, are double or more what they were 18 months ago ... cobalt - a metal used to make electrodes in [lithium] batteries - soared to about $25 a pound from $7 a pound in 2002 ... a 70% rise in rubber prices in the last 18 months.”