[wideminded]

That was the 14th of July, 2008 when President George W. Bush wisely lifted the moratorium on oil drilling, thus sparking the precipitous drop in the price of gasoline from an average high of $4.12 per gallon to a cellar dwelling low of $1.60 by November of that year.

As you can see on your graph, the price of gasoline was up near $3.80 in September when the really precipitous drop began, caused by the international financial crisis.

[joeclarke]

As you can see on your graph, the price of gasoline was up near $3.80 in September when the really precipitous drop began, caused by the international financial crisis.

I would also agree with Larry Kudlow and others that the high oil prices helped to provoke the downturn in economies, and the lowering of prices also contributed to economic declines. The moratorium had a lot to do with both according to many econmists.

[SargeK]

Obeyme is blaming ‘speculators’ for driving up the price in defiance of market supply/demand fundamentals. With every long contract, there is a counterparty shorting the commodity, no?

So if the market fundamentals truly don’t support the high prices, the bottom WILL drop out and some point and the ‘speculators’ are going to take it in the teeth.

OTOH if the premium is because of government tomfoolery (the 99% probability in my book) then the bottom has been raised significantly until such time as we get a government that is far less of a bunch of idealogues and respects the power of free markets.

That’s not likely with this bunch, which is a jail break from Harvard.