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Originally Posted by kane
I'm not a bush supporter but I don't see the gas prices as his fault. There was a great article written about this a little while back. Crude oil is at an all time high per barrel which has a lot to do with the price of gas. The main reason for this is simple. The opec nations have decided to cap the amount they will deliver every day. With the economies of china and countries in eastern europe begining to develop strongly they need more oil because they are still, more than the US, oil reliant countries. This increase in need has brought about more buyers for the commodity market. So with more buyers and the same amount being produced the price goes up. So the price of gas has very little to do with bush ( yes he could release some of the oil reserve we have or choose to not grow it, but if it were up to me I would rather we keep that rainy day ) and it has everything to do with emerging markets around the globe
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I'd suggest that OPEC has less 'decided' to cap and more that they are incapable of producing a substantial increase in output. They're running pretty close to full tilt (98% capacity, as I recall although I can't find a citation at the moment) and there are serious and growing concerns about how much oil they actually have left (the 'technical reserves') versus the amount they claim to be able to deliver (the 'political reserves').
It's strange to watch all these pundits on financial channels and shows, the same ones who believe so fervently in the 'invisible hand', not seeing its work where it's most obvious: Oil is expensive because speculators anticipate shortage, driving demand up... and due to the relatively inelastic market at these prices, oil could well go up a long way before there's a serious throttling back of consumption. Perhaps they typify what T.S.Elliot claimed, that ?humankind cannot stand very much reality.?