At 01:04 PM 12/3/97 -0500, Thomas Lunde wrote:
>One of your quotes captured my interest. It follows:
>
>In 1983, the Treasury Department did a secret study that the
>optimum oil price for the US economy was about $20 a barrel.
>[p. 141]
>
>One of the problems with economic numbers is that $20 in 1983, does not
>represent the same value as $20 in 1997. I don't want to spend the time
>looking up the difference, but assuming an inflation rate of 2% a year for
>the last 15 years, then a barrel of oil should definitely be higher than
>the current $19 plus figure quoted in the financial news.
I don't know how they arrived at that number in 1983, they
may have had some sort of built-in price deflator. Or
perhaps, the have been updating the study from time to time.
>Quote from same post:
>
>Obviously, once oil production peaks in a couple of years, the
>public will throw their total support behind an invasion of Iraq.
>There is simply no other way we can guarantee access to the oil
>patch.
>
>I'm impressed, this scheme is really quite clever. I wouldn't
>have thought they were that smart. <G>
>
> I suppose one of the naive assumptions that a Canadian makes is that
>Americans are not this devious and that there is still enough marginal
>integrity in the system to prevent a conspiracy of this size. I agree,
Well, OPEC is a cartel ... and the Saudis DO control oil prices.
Schweizer's book is endorsed by the New York Times, The
Washington Times, and Forbes Magazine.
One would have thought that all of our "gates" would have made
clear the role that "integrity" plays in American government.
>with your oft stated comment, that Americans have the best politicians that
>money can buy, but are they bad enough to think they can get away with this
>kind of mega planning. After all, this is not secret if I can read it on a
>list. Surely other governments would not be party to this degree of self
>interest on the part of America? I would also like to differentiate
How do we know? If $20 oil is "good" for America's economy,
perhaps it is "good" for all First World economies. And don't
forget, we have all the guns ...
Jay -- http://dieoff.org/page1.htm
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Sustainable development both improves quality of life
and retains continuity with physical conditions. To
do both requires that social systems be equitable and
physical systems circular.
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