The two contentions aren't incompatible. There are advantages and disadvantages of high gas prices. Ideally, what we'd want is high gas prices where the majority of the escalation was captured and recycled into something productive for the economy. For example, picture if the recent $2/gallon increase in the cost of gas weren't effectively being exported to the dictatorships of oil-rich nations, but rather were increased gas taxes earmarked for improving mass transit and alternative energies. That would let us capture the positive things about high gas prices, while using hte proceeds to combat the negative things about it. But, unfortunately, the runup in gas prices wasn't a planned thing accomplished by taxation, but rather (in part) an unplanned consequence of Bush's incompetent foreign policy. So, rather than that money being churned back into our economy, it's being sucked out of it.