It’s the energy, stupid by Byron W. King
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/45815Speculation:With the price of oil doubling in the past year, there are more fingers being pointed than solutions being offered.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest culprits taking much of the blame has been the group of people called "oil speculators." Congress has decided to make them the scapegoat for our energy concerns. Unfortunately, many members of the public are beginning to lap it up.
Let's get something straight from the start. Speculators are speculating because there is something about which to speculate. (Let me thank my sixth-grade English instructor for teaching me how to compose that sentence.)
SNIP...
As for the so-called oil speculators, they are just defending the value of their money. They are looking forward a few years. What do they see? All of the current energy development projects will just barely replace the oil that will NOT be coming from declining oil fields. So peering ahead, there’s no net increase in future oil output. We’re looking at a plateau in output, if not the backside of the Peak Oil curve.
But we are looking at growing energy demand, as well as demand for other resources. So investors have placed hundreds of billions of dollars into energy and other commodity funds during the past two years. They are both hedging against dollar inflation and anticipating future supply shortfalls.
READ THE REST AT THE ABOVE LINK
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Although it's a bit overly simplified, I think that King hit the nail on the head with the role of speculators in the current energy "situation." They are not driving it, they are REACTING to it in the most rational way for those who make their living speculating the future prices of commodities.
Thoughts? Comments? Obscenity-laced tirades?