President Bush pleaded with Saudi leaders today for an increase in OPEC production, claiming that high oil prices might cause a U.S. economic slowdown (International Herald Tribune).
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that the falling price of a barrel of oil indicates a future recession.
So which is it? High oil prices will cause a recession, or dropping oil prices are the canary in the recession mine?
"Big Oil" is today's handlebar mustachioed villain, today's robber baron. Although recessions and wars have been pinned on it, oil is not a sufficiency - oil alone does not explain the 2003 invasion of Iraq, nor any other social, political, or economic crisis. One of the issues I'll be charting in this journal is the scapegoating of the oil industry, as well as instances when oil truly is a necessary factor.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI)/Light Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX): $91.71
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