When oil prices rise, Americans tend to notice it in one very obvious place: the gas pump. You don’t need an economics degree to understand what’s happening. You just drive past the giant glowing sign outside a gas station and watch the numbers creep upward. Unlike most prices in the economy, gasoline is advertised in big digits visible from half a mile away. When it goes up, people see it immediately. But the impact of rising oil prices goes far beyond the price of gasoline.