When it comes to falling oil prices and the U.S. economy, maybe the second time’s a charm. The sharp decline in crude prices in the latter half of 2014, and its attendant drop in gasoline prices, was supposed to be a boon for the economy in 2015. Alas, it wasn’t. Instead, sharp declines in oil-patch investment cut into economic growth and people opted to hang onto much of the cash they were saving at the pump rather than spend it elsewhere. Now oil prices are falling again, with U.S. crude closing at $38 a barrel on Thursday, well below the $59.47 at which it finished in June. Gasoline is down, too, with regular averaging $2.03 a gallon , and cued by wholesale prices to go even lower. This time around, those drops in energy costs should provide more of an economic boost. One reason is that the cuts in […]