One of the beauties of an economy coordinated by price movements is that nobody has to understand it in order for it to work. If vast new iron ore deposits are discovered tomorrow in Timbuktu, 99 percent of the people on this planet may be wholly unaware of it -- and...
Energy
Oily Politicians I: Oil Prices Rise as Oil Drilling is Restricted By Politicians
If there is anything worse than partisan demagoguery, it is bipartisan demagoguery. Republican leaders have now joined the Democrats in blaming the oil companies for the fact that prices rise when demand expands more than supply. Prices have been rising under these...
In the U.S. Senate the Guilty Interrogate the Innocent
Environmentalism thus stands a very strong chance of ultimately reverting to the more traditional socialism of massive government construction and engineering projects.
Big Oil: A Politician’s Favorite Villain
The Supreme Court's recent 8 to 0 decision (Justice Alito not yet participating) shot down a claim that oil companies were colluding in setting prices. That claim was upheld by the far-left 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but neither liberals nor conservatives on the...
Spoiled Brat Media
The first revolt of the American colonists against their British rulers was immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson as "the shot heard round the world." Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident has now become the shot heard round the Beltway. The accidental shooting...
Dictator Mentality at The New York Times
Like a dictator who is unhappy with the outcome of an election, The Times is unhappy with the outcome of the choices of tens of millions of American citizens expressed in their purchases of motor-vehicles and fuel for those vehicles.
Oil, Big Business, and “Monopoly”
Environmentalism thus stands a very strong chance of ultimately reverting to the more traditional socialism of massive government construction and engineering projects.
“Record Profits Spark New Backlash Against Big Oil”—An Economic Analysis
If politicians were serious about wanting to reduce the burden imposed on consumers by the high price of oil, all they would need to do would be to abolish the restrictions on energy production that they have up to now been supporting.
Senate Hearings on Energy Prices: Putting the Squeeze on Big Oil
Who can resist good theater? Certainly not American lawmakers. All the pieces were in place on Nov. 9, as the Senate held hearings about the soaring price of energy. The CEOs of the five largest oil companies were the guest stars, called in to endure lectures from a...
Spoiled Brat Politics, Part 2
The idea that what I want overrides what you want has increasingly become part of our thinking, our policies and even our laws. There is literally a federal case before the Supreme Court over the fact that many colleges and universities refuse to allow military...
Spoiled Brat Politics, Part 1
An editorial in a recent issue of the National Geographic's "Traveler" magazine complained that kayakers in Maine found "residential development" near national parks and urged its readers to use their "influence" to prevent such things. "You are the stakeholders in...
Having Your Oil and Eating It’s Source Too
It's easy to proclaim that the U.S. uses too much oil; that the U.S. is evil because it fights "wars for oil" in the Middle East. It's still easier to shout that there's NO way in hell our government should permit drilling for oil in Alaska, off shore, or really...
What “Oil Crisis”, Part 2
Soaring oil prices have revived the old bogeyman that the world is running out of oil. Economics is a great field for nostalgia buffs because the same old fallacies keep coming back, like golden oldies in music. Back in 1960, a best-selling book titled "The Waste...
What “Oil Crisis”?
With oil prices passing the record-breaking $60 a barrel level and heading even higher, the word "crisis" is now being used and all sorts of political "solutions" are being proposed. Is there really a crisis? One of the dictionary definitions of a crisis is "the point...
Energy Bill is a Massive Pork-Barrel
It's bad enough that the energy bill now working its way through Congress may cost taxpayers close to $36 billion over the next five years. Worse, it actually contains provisions that would increase the cost of energy in the years ahead.Take the ethanol mandate. This...
Operation Bao Chuan: Say No to China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s Bid for Unocal
China National Offshore Oil Corporation presumably chose the codename "Operation Bao Chuan" for its Unocal offer to conjure up national pride in its bid to buy America's ninth largest oil company. For bao chuan were the huge treasure ships that traveled across the...
Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
I beg to move, That this House welcomes the formation of a Government representing the united and inflexible resolve of the nation to prosecute the war with Germany to a victorious conclusion. On Friday evening last I received His Majesty's commission to form a new...
Russia: Kremlin Takeover of the Russian Oil Industry?
In Russia these days, a lot of old is new again. In fact, the Russian oil and gas sector's new paradigm can be summarized in two words: "state domination." The free market has been abandoned. For example, last December the tax authorities bankrupted YUKOS, a major oil...
The Volcker Oil-for-Food Interim Reports: No Exoneration for U.N. Corruption
In order to begin restoring the credibility of the United Nations, Mr. Annan should step down.
Environmental Regulations Reduce Safety and Productivity in the Energy Industry
An explosion last week at a British Petroleum (BP) oil and gas refinery in Texas killed fifteen workers and injured seventy others, five critically. As usual, myopic media accounts blamed BP and its allegedly unsafe work conditions – and called for more intense government regulation and fines.
Conflict of Interests In The Volcker Oil-for-Food Investigation
The Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program (IIC), headed by Paul Volcker, is due to release its interim report at the end of January. The Volcker report undoubtedly has the potential to bring about the downfall of U.N....
Dispelling Some Crude Myths About Oil’s Real Impact
Economists are beginning to panic about the recent run-up in the oil price (+36%, year to-date, to $44.4/barrel) and its likely future impact on stock prices, profits and output in the U.S. But there's no reason to panic. A fast-rising oil price is no necessary...
The East Coast Blackout
The East Coast blackout seemed to be straight out Atlas Shrugged: 60 million people without electricity and the official reaction was that things worked like they were supposed to! I just had to verify that the New York Times editorial on the subject was a call for...
Market Wonders and Oil Prices
We've all seen gasoline prices rising; is that good news or bad news? Congress could enact price controls and "odd and even" days for gasoline purchases like they did in the 1970s. Sure we'd be paying lower prices, but the selling price of a good is just one element...
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