Quote:
Originally Posted by Donger
Market speculation and the weak dollar.
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The weak dollar is over-stated in this context. In DC a couple of months ago I posted a chart from the WSJ showing that ppb of oil was up something like 90% in US dollars, but also 70% in Euros and 60% in Yen, or something along those lines.
Yes, it's up a bit more here, but it's up ALOT internationally. The weak dollar contributes to the problem here, but is neither a decisive factor, nor would strengthening the dollar simply fix the problem.
And "market speculation" is pretty much a straw-man. Speculators may well be driving the price up for a while, but eventually that is self-correcting. Unfortunately, nothing has caused that bubble to be pricked yet, if it is a bubble. Meanwhile, there's no obvious way to fix it -- capitalism is best when left to self-regulate, unless there really are predatory tactics going on.