After a recent return to our collective “borrow and spend” ways, everyone’s now worried about rising gasoline prices and whether they’ll take the wind out of the American consumers’ sails as has happened so many times before, leading to a recession. With images like the one below from this LA Times story, somebody better do something fast.
Of course, Bill O’Reilly and Lou Dobbs have been looking into this in recent days and provide this explanation – we’re shipping refined products overseas where they can be sold at a higher price and this pushes supply down (and prices up) here in the good ‘ol USA.
[Note: I don't necessarily agree with the O'Reilly/Dobbs view - I'm simply passing it along.]
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Even after 2008 oil fiasco, CFTC has not really put any limits on futures positions. I would guess that there are large speculators that are responsible for 20% of the price increases. They are making money at the cost to everyone else.
Yep. But you’re looking at the wrong speculators. Here are the real ones:
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/01/CB%20total%20assets%20vs%20gold%20chart.jpg
It’s an instant tax increase on everyone’s disposable income. This by itself is bad enough, but we also have rising food prices, rising healthcare costs and rising education costs. What you can get is a 120″ 3D Techno-LCD with vibrating massage for $179.
Yesterday I took delivery on a Honda scooter that gets 110 miles per gallon. I don’t need it to commute (I walk to my job) but I bought it so I could continue to pleasure ride in defiance to the regime.
Everyone blames the producers, but no one looks at the real culprit! the central bank!