> > you are right about bush-co using his presidency to
> enrich his cronies,
> > lance, but i doubt he comprehends what an enormous
> deleterious effect his
> > policies have had on the global economy. it is
> costing trillions so
> > halliburton and others can make billions.
> I'm not quite sure how that follows. If you look at
> 2000 vs. 2008, the big
> drop in OPEC oil production was in Venezuela...which is a
> result of Chavez's
> actions, not Bush's. Iraq is close to the 2000 level
> of production. Other
> countries have increased production.
> Oil is higher, not because production hasn't risen, but
> because demand has
> exploded. Over the last year, the US demand for oil has
> dropped about 3.5%,
> while the demand in the rest of the world has risen 2.7%.
> Overall, that's
> about a 0.6% increase. During that time, prices have gone
> through the roof.
> There is ample evidence that US demand is cooling, but no
> convincing
> evidence that demand is cooling in the rest of the world.
> Unless oil prices
> go way back down (say $30/barrel), I expect US demand to
> continue to drop.
> If oil prices go back to the $75-$100/barrel range, then
> that drop would be
> slowed, but would still occur.
> China, on the other hand, is in a position where energy
> consumption and GDP
> are strongly tied. If oil goes below $100/barrel (note,
> the drop in the
> dollar is part of the rise in US cost, the rise in oil
> prices for the EU
> over the last 5 years or so is about 35% less than it is
> for the US), then I
> think that they will continue to have explosive demand.
> GWB has made a mess of taxes and government spending and
> oversight, but, the
> forces involved in the housing bubble had manifested
> themselves elsewhere
> twice on Clinton's watch (the Asian bubble and the
> Internet bubble). So, a
> competent president could have done much better, but the
> problem of, to use
> an extreme case, Californian house prices being far out of
> reach for the
> average person is not the result of GWB. Other factors
> dominate there...as
> they did in other places.
> So, as much as I consider GWB a bumbling idiot, I don't
> think that every
> mess is his fault.
> Dan M.
no one is saying that EVERY mess is the idiot's fault, but his policies have
had a catastophic effect, and not just the price of oil. although the initial
invasion of iraq did greatly reduce the production of oil or some time. i
don't think iraq has recovered to pre-war production levels, despite the claims
that the surge succeeded and al qaeda is on the run. al qaeda is resurging in
afghanistan and pakistan, and has been recruiting around the world. you can't
deny that terrorism is on the rise as a result of bush's policies, even though
he is finally starting to be less dogmatic and more pragmatic in the waning
days of his presidency.
jon.
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