Don wrote:
>A recent article indicated that the reason these prices have not reached
>the pump is that there are a couple of large oil company mergers in
>progress or about to be announced. They want to keep the lid on prices to
>stay out of the spotlight. The same article indicated that other forces
>keeping prices down are the upcoming elections and that price spikes would
>upset the electorate and add some unpredictability.
Hi Don, I read that this jump in oil prices was due to
seasonal demand and the fact that we are down to just a
handful of suppliers. I'm a little suspicious at this point
and think you are partially right about political
manipulations. The government seems to think it can
manipulate the economy and i'm convinced it is tampering with the
CPI (consumer price index) to control public opinion.
If this is just a seasonal cycle then it may not
have a big impact on inflation or the economy. If it isn't
purely seasonal then we will see inflation begin soon. All
our inflation measures are tied to energy. Even things like
copper and eggs are produced using large amounts of energy.
It could be painful.
jeff
