Moneybox: Sticker Price 101

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moneybox Sticker Price 101 Why can't the government make it easier to compare college costs? By Annie Lowrey Posted Friday, May 27, 2011, at 5:17 PM ET The Department of Transportation unveiled on Wednesday a new set of gas-mileage labels, providing prospective car buyers with data on each model's efficiency, fuel costs, and emissions. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the labels "about as consumer-friendly as folks around here have ever seen." What makes the labels successful is not so much that they contain more information. It's that they make cars easier to compare. For instance, the label lists a car's fuel economy alongside the average for similar cars. It also includes data on how much it will cost to fuel up a car over a five-year period, compared with an average vehicle; an estimate of how many gallons or volts a car needs to drive 100 miles; and metrics to help consumers compare various vehicles' greenhouse gas and smog emissions. To continue reading, click here. Annie Lowrey reports on economics and business for Slate. Previously, she worked as a staff writer for the Washington Independent and on the editorial staffs of Foreign Policy and The New Yorker. Her e-mail is annie.lowrey@slate.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate World Health Organization Raises Alarm About Cancer Risk From Cellphones Hitchens: Don't Forget for One Moment What a Monster Ratko Mladic Is The Sneaky, No-Good Tricks Colleges Use To Hide the Real Cost of Going to School	Advertisement
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