General

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

xahrx — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:49:41 GMT

"Yes, they do. They clearly place the blame on:" limitgov

Yeah, but what I said was they don't look to place blame when prices go down, not up. When prices drop everyone just takes it in stride. When they go up, all of a sudden 'profit' and 'speculators' are the evil icons of the day. Makes me laugh. If people would pay half as much attention to how many things are so cheap and plentiful today as they do to every commodity that has a slight uptick in price they might actually start to understand markets are good, not bad.

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

limitgov — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:35:54 GMT

"No one asks who to 'blame' when prices go down."

Yes, they do. They clearly place the blame on:

"highest prices for commodities ever, fueled by the biggest influx of profit-driven trading and investment ever, unstanched even in the slightest by the hopes of financial regulation legislation. I argue that financial influences from investors and traders and the massive growth of derivatives markets have been the single most important factor for oil's high and unreliable price, far outstripping fundamental arguments of emerging market growth, peak oil or any other supply constraints or a devaluing dollar."

and here is a solution provided:

"Putting some controls on at least some of these speculative influences was supposed to be one of the goals of Dodd-Frank, but the actual rule-making to put teeth behind the legislation has been left to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Since it began tackling this massive job in July 2010, the CFTC has literally been uried by the pushback from industry lobbyists, hired-gun lawyers, derivatives broker/dealers and virtually every industrial corporation with a trading desk that depends even marginally on derivatives activity to protect or augment profits."

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

xahrx — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:34:22 GMT

"Oil is not traded in the free market. 80% of the oil supply is controlled by governments."

Even if it were, I love how it's always the market's fault when prices go up. No one asks who to 'blame' when prices go down.

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

Joe — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:32:21 GMT

even if rising prices were a result of the free market, then that would be a good thing. Imagine how much worse it would be if the market was being sent incorrect signals and businesses did not economize on oil despite when they should be.

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

Bogart — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:41:12 GMT

Certianly the intention of goofball outfilts like Newsweek, NYT, CNN, CNBC, etc is to convey that the free market and voluntary interraction are the sources of all of our woes and that the use of coersion, force and violence by people who are gifted by God is way to prosperity.

Of course the markets in petrol is anything but a free market. Fortunately the remaining free parts are what drive down the prices after they rise. The problem now is that the there is so much new money being created by the US Central Bank that oil suppliers are having to increase their prices in dollars even if they are not increasing them in other currencies or relative to gold.

Re: Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

EmperorNero — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:36:56 GMT

Oil is not traded in the free market. 80% of the oil supply is controlled by governments.

Oil Prices Set To Rise - Fault of Free Market?

limitgov — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 15:26:06 GMT

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/01/20/here-comes-4-gas-5-cups-of-coffee.html

this article along with many others that will come out say yes....

is this true?

they then can blame all rising prices on high oil cost.