Are Rising Oil and Food Prices a Scam? (Consortium News) (xpost)

[bananas]

From the "Editorials & Other Articles" forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x598804

from Consortium News:

Are Rising Oil and Food Prices a Scam?

By Danny Schechter
April 19, 2011


Editor’s Note: International crises – from the earthquake/tsunami in Japan to the war in Libya – may be subjects for sympathy and concern among most people, but for financial speculators, they are opportunities to make money.

Yet, while investing in commodity futures also may have some broader economic value – by spreading risk – the question at a time of volatility is where does that purpose end and crass exploitation begin, as Danny Schechter asks in this guest essay:


The global economy and its recovery, and the living standards of millions of plain folks, are now at risk from the sudden rise in oil and commodity prices.

Gas at the pump is up, and going higher. Food prices are following. The consequences are catastrophic for the global poor as their costs go up while their income doesn’t.

It’s menacing American workers too, who in large part have not seen a meaningful raise since the days of Reagan (keeping it this way is clearly behind the current flurry of attacks on unions).

Already, unrest in the Middle East and many African countries is being blamed for these dramatic increases. It seems as if this threat to global stability is being largely ignored in our media, one that treats the oil business as just another mystical world of free market trading. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.consortiumnews.com/2011/041911a.html

also see post #4 in that thread.

[Turbineguy]

1. It's not really a scam

but what you have is an over abundance of people who make a living Trading commodities and other financial instruments. These people do nothing of value. They produce nothing, yet take value of the produce of others out of the system to survive. The advanced parts of the World are over run with them.

Would Ayn Rand classify these people as "looters"?

[doc03]

2. They're payback for badmouthing big oil and freezing

drilling in the gulf.

[bhikkhu]

3. The key is: what would happen if we (the US) refused to pay higher prices

for the 10 mbpd or so we import, what would happen if we said $60 a barrel is enough, and that's all we're going to pay?

The world market might say "fine, China and India and Europe are buying at $100".The 10 mbpd of new oil on the market might temporarily depress prices a bit, but basically our own economy immediately gets tied in some pretty difficult knots while the rest of the world ramps up consumption and elbows us out of the market.

We could nationalize domestic oil and dictate a price for maybe half our consumption (assuming production could be maintained at an artificially low price) but that gets us nowhere on the global market.

[flamingdem]

4. Wall St. is just plain greedy, but I think they don't want the teaparty in power

so they had better get this one under control. Would love to be a fly on the wall to hear the convo btwn Wall Streeters and Obama over this.