The following is both the long awaited sequel to this eloquent post by a dashing young blogger and an extension of our class discussion today of the national security ramifications of the financial crisis and oncoming apocalypse.
Our professor mentioned in class today that one positive aspect of our current economic predicament is that oil prices have dropped in the past couple of days due to fears of falling demand (although they rebounded today with the of the Senate's passage of the euphemistically renamed "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" a.k.a. bailout bill--if prices stay high it will totally shoot this post's theoretical underpinnings to shit, but I digress).
The gist of my "Hummer Pt. 1" post was that high demand for and prices of oil had empowered many oil rich autocrats and wannabe dictators (think Hugo and Mahmoud) and that they had been exhibiting a new swagger as evidenced by Russian invasions, Venezuelan arms purchases, Iranian holocaust denial, etc. See where I'm going with this? The arrival of low oil prices might help more than just your wallet.
Lower prices coupled with lower demand have the potential to hit the petro-bullies right where it hurts--in their coffers. Could decreased revenue lead to a humbler Putin, a less bombastic Chavez, or a kinder, gentler Ahmadinejad? One can but dream...
1 comment:
That video was over the top.
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