protectionist flaming in three, two, one........go
Do people think Ford or GM would be stronger, and our domestic economy would be better, if we prohibited them from exporting cars?
This isn't going to happen, for two reasons. First, the article assumes politicians are smart enough to understand the argument. I've seen nothing to suggest this is true. Second, the voting public is even more dumb and have the economic IQ of a gnat. The public does understand high prices, which they don't like, which explains why politicians don't have the stones to make hard decisions. Obozo could easily announce that he would open off shore lands for open bidding, sign an Executive Order for the Keystone pipe line, and announce that market decisions being handed down by the EPA (et al) will, as it should be, have to be approved by Congress after years of abdicating their responsibility and letting bureaucracies run economic policy. This would create an environment that would work to both our short and long run interests.
I used to be very ambivalent about this because in the end I want lower energy prices. But it would not be good to collapse oil prices before the USA is totally oil independent. I figure that will happen about 2019-20. So in the meantime I support keeping oil prices high by allowing oil exports.
What I don’t understand is why the refiners don’t just add new capacity that is adapted to light sweet crude. Its kind of a waste to export crude rather than the finished product.
When gas prices DROP! then I will say ok to sell oil outside the country. We are paying double what we did before obama and the corrupt democrats came along. I suspect payoffs myself.