I didn’t say oil companies are making obscene profits. I said speculators. Call me old fashioned but I think money should be made not pulled out of thin air by pushing paper.
I think money should be made not pulled out of thin air by pushing paper
I understand your point, but think of the meaning of the word “speculator.” Imagine the price of food keeps rising daily, you figure that soon you won’t be able to afford some of your favorite foods. So, you decide to stock up on them while you can still buy them. You’ve just speculated. Now if next year the world has a bumper crop of this favorite food of yours and the price falls due to its abundance, you’re going to be kicking yourself for wasting your money.
Yet if the price goes exponentially higher and someone offers you an amount that is far more than you paid for it, should you be punished for making a gain?
This is whole basis of the commodities markets! They are a valuable mechanism for distribution and pricing of the world’s resources, not just oil, but corn, metals, meat,... you name it. This has been going on since history began. Originally, it was clay tablets, today we use paper, or more likely computer files. What does it matter? The medium records human action, it has no value in itself.