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unfourtunetly our weak doller puts alot of pressure on oil prices. the dollar is down and worth 1/2 of what it was just a few years ago. oil is priced in dollars around the planet and even if it stayed the same price and didnt go up compared to a few years ago it would have to be double the price just to stay even.
Another problem is that the national media feeds it and only adds fuel to the fire by devoting half of its coverage to "economic crisis" this or "financial panic" that. All this does is create hysteria amongst the investment community, which is why the DOW plummeted to its lowest point today in quite some time.
The Dow did not plummet because of the media !! Believe me the investment
community does not buy or sell because of the media. I watch many things
very closely and the media is not one of them. Greenspan had us on the
straight and narrow, the man new is stuff !! Bernanke is killing us in the
investment community, and if he continues on the path he is on, we are
going to be in a DEPRESSION !!
Bush's relationship with Saudia Arabia is actually an advantage, and a job qualification. Significant forces such as a devaluation of the dollar, issues with oil production, regulations that prevent further development of refineries since the 1970s, lack of focus on improving infrastructure and public transportation, have all contributed to the mess we are in today.
Good relations with the world's largest oil producing nation, and largest voter in OPEC is quite important to this nation. If we hadn't wanted of had this relationship, things might have actually been worse.
This isn't like the Clinton administration where a President got to sit back and get very lucky with the economy, domestic affairs, and good security. This President has bigger challenges then forgetting to dry clean a dress.
I agree that most americans have contributed to the problem here by insisting on buying the cheapest goods possible with no concern for what country they came from or what conditions they were produced under. This has massively affected the morality of manufacturing IMO.
But Bush is way more than a scape goat in this instance, as I see it. (Well, if you want my real opinion he is probably a victim of mind control, but that's another topic.) This is the politics of greed...and when you give a group of people that much power (the ring!), and their main concern is ascertaining more wealth and power for their close ones, than that is a recipe for disaster, and we are living that disaster.
This is why I support Ron Paul. No one else is telling me they realize that hunger for power is the main evil we are battling on our planet. He would like to reduce the appeal and scope of that power as much as possible. Worth listening to! His idea of totally free markets might be a little utopian though, because, as businezguy points out, Americans have already proven that they have little concern for the moral and social ramifications that result from consistently choosing the cheapest, most convenient items to buy. Nonetheless, I do see that free markets are the only long term solution since our alternative is having government control the markets, which is just too much power for one small group of people.
well, I think Barack is saying that. Unfortunately his name is so close to the most hated man in the world's that people can't quite hear his message. I heard commentaries the other day that I think are quite true. Unless you hear Barack "live" in the house- (I met him) you may not realize how powerful his message is. He's quite the orator and has many global allies. I can understand hesitancy as he *is* a freshman senator but if we don't want a good ole boy- then.... Yet, I understand someone not voting for him just because they "have a good feeling" when they are around him. God knows that's how we got in this mess with George W. We voted for a guy we could have a beer with vs. the guy with the intelligence to know that you don't go to war on a testerone dare. Fortunately Barack did speak out originally against the war. Voting for the funding is exactly what I'd have done too. Okay- you don't vote for it, but then we're there. Now what? Make the guys go hungry? It's not their fault- they didn't vote to go in.
It's a mess. While I once would have been willing to vote for Hillary- I didn't like how she played things these last two weeks. I also hate her health plan.
hey there! I appreciate your opinion so I will have to look more closely at Barack. I just haven't resonated with him so far in the debates, and that's about my only experience with him. There is also someone else I know, whose opinion I trust a lot, who feels strongly about Barack.
I agree the issue of war funding is a tough one because no one wants to see the soldiers being abused any more than they already are, but it seems like no funding is the only way to ever stop this thing. Bush is willing to drive us into the ground with it. It also freaks me out quite a bit that Barack and Hillary both see us in Iraq for their entire first term as president.
I think getting troops out of Iraq immediately is such a popular sentiment, particularly among democrats, that I feel like the only reason they are playing it so middle-of-the-road is to get all the independents and frustrated repubs to vote for them. And I don't respect that kind of politics. We need a truth teller who sees clearly. Kucinich fits the bill too, but America is not ready for someone who believes exclusively in peace.
Quite actually, as much as it hurts to know this, it's really the American consumer that has caused oil prices to increase. We have made purchases from China more then ever, decreased manufacturering jobs, increased the cost of jobs through overpaid union workers, etc. Consumers have spent more money then they have, and maxed out their credit cards, assumed more debt on houses then was ever known in the history of this nation. All of this has caused the value of the dollar to decline due to a 7 trillion dollar debt consumers allowed our government to run up (our government has never, in the history of this nation, declined spending), and that lower dollar has made oil more expensive for us because oil is priced bases on the rise and fall of the dollar.
Sure much of the increase in oil can be attributed to low supply, but that supply is essentially from a level of consumption by Americans (and please understand Americans are the ones causing the Chinese to use so much oil), that it has caused there to be an inability to increase supply.
In fact, Bush has plead our case with Saudia Arabia, and while I personally believe Saudia Arabia should NOT increase supply, they probably will do so in February, and cause oil prices to go down to much lower levels because such increases will be combined with a recession caused by tremendous irresponsibility.
I'm sure blaming an individual does make folks feel better, and I almost would argue that one of the jobs of the President is to be a psychological tool to help folks vent their frustrations, but please understand that what you've said is essentially not really going to have a foundation of truth, or fact, while if you really if you really want to explore and learn the power of market forces, it should be comforting to know these oil prices will come down, and they will be driven down by a recession, and that recession will be well earned, and well deserved, and bring back some responsibility to this generation. Surely it will be forgotten with future generations, but the American people usually have enough memory to allow for 8 more years of postive growth. Let's get through this recession, but let's at least begin to look at a nation of 300 million people and accept that they have more force then any one man or office, as do billions of others in other nations.
Do you have the typical myopic view of the world that got us into this mess?
The price of oil isn't going to go down for the very same reason we are in recession. The folks in China and India have finally made enough money to improve their lives just a little. They wish to use just a small fraction of the fuel you do. A tiny fraction. But it will over whelm the supply for the rest of time. Let's examine the situation.
America cuts use do to this "recession" by lets be nuts and say 5%. Well that will be lowering the total world supply demand by about 1.25% (US uses about 25%).
Well if China and India using about 10% of the world supply increase their usage as predicted doubling every 2 years. They will out pace the "savings" in less than 6 months.
Get used to the high price for oil and all commodities we have given close to 1/4 of the earths population a huge boost in pay and lifestyle. Your "suffering" and lack of disposable income wont make a difference.
im no fortune teller but my best guess is a recession range for oil coupled with a weak dollar and world demand will have oil trade in the 55-75.00 . hardly a bargain. i think anything below that is gone forever once the recession is recovering ,100.00 plus will resume. many highly regarded oil analysts think 100-150 will be the new trading range once we pick up again.
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-19-2008 at 02:10 PM..
Do you have the typical myopic view of the world that got us into this mess?
The price of oil isn't going to go down for the very same reason we are in recession. The folks in China and India have finally made enough money to improve their lives just a little. They wish to use just a small fraction of the fuel you do. A tiny fraction. But it will over whelm the supply for the rest of time. Let's examine the situation.
America cuts use do to this "recession" by lets be nuts and say 5%. Well that will be lowering the total world supply demand by about 1.25% (US uses about 25%).
Well if China and India using about 10% of the world supply increase their usage as predicted doubling every 2 years. They will out pace the "savings" in less than 6 months.
Get used to the high price for oil and all commodities we have given close to 1/4 of the earths population a huge boost in pay and lifestyle. Your "suffering" and lack of disposable income wont make a difference.
China and India are prospering primarily due to the demand of the United States. Beyond that, China especially has some very serious issues. They have very high inflation, labor costs are going very high, and companies are having difficulty retaining employees because they jump ship to other companies.
When Europe go into a recession, the dollar and the euro go down, and the cost of the worker becomes more competitive, who exactly is China going to sell their goods to, praytell? You do realize that nations don't manufacture for the sake of manufacturing, right? See, they actually SELL the goods to the United States. So, if Europe and the US decline their demand for goods from the Chinese, and labor from India, how do you think both India and China are going to double the use of oil, especially at these prices?
You should also know that China is playing an extremely dangerous game, and are not nearly as wise as the Japanese. Their government has been lowering the value of their currency significantly, which can't continue, especially when their primary customer is losing the value of its currency.
Let me explain something to you. Folks believed that real estate would go up forever. These same people believe that China and India will continue to grow at 15 percent per year. Please, try to take the time to ignore these people.
Do you have the typical myopic view of the world that got us into this mess?
The price of oil isn't going to go down for the very same reason we are in recession. The folks in China and India have finally made enough money to improve their lives just a little. They wish to use just a small fraction of the fuel you do. A tiny fraction. But it will over whelm the supply for the rest of time. Let's examine the situation.
America cuts use do to this "recession" by lets be nuts and say 5%. Well that will be lowering the total world supply demand by about 1.25% (US uses about 25%).
Well if China and India using about 10% of the world supply increase their usage as predicted doubling every 2 years. They will out pace the "savings" in less than 6 months.
Get used to the high price for oil and all commodities we have given close to 1/4 of the earths population a huge boost in pay and lifestyle. Your "suffering" and lack of disposable income wont make a difference.
By the way, you did notice that the cost of oil has gone down by $10 since I've posted, right? What if my views myopic if the events I state take place?
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okay....
I appreciate your opinion so I will have to look more closely at Barack. I just haven't resonated with him so far in the debates, and that's about my only experience with him. There is also someone else I know, whose opinion I trust a lot, who feels strongly about Barack. 
