As a retired guy mostly counting on investments to sustain my financial needs, I'm happy when the stock market rallies, no matter the reason. But really? This latest rise is because the price of oil is increasing? That's what they say, whoever "they" is.
I'm no economist, but it seems pretty clear that the only people who benefit from rising oil prices are oil companies and those who invest in them. Not insignificant, I suppose; but doesn't cheap fuel benefit the hundreds of millions of people who aren't invested in oil a lot more than the relatively few who are? Isn't it a lot better for capitalism when people have extra jingle in their pockets, to spend on the stuff that businesses other than energy companies make?
So, intuitively and otherwise, it must be the case that the economy does better when fuel is cheaper; yet the Dow rallies on the opposite news.
My point: is that screwed up, or what? Why should the financial status of average investors depend more on the whims of a handful of hedge-fund managers, than on the health of the economy at large? It's all-year opposite day, and it's unsettling.
Yeah, boo hoo, right? But it's another demonstration of how little the average person is in charge of anything.
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It's probably trading in general that is the most perfect profit machine. Wall street always wins. Lots of trading = lots of fees etc.
ReplyDeletePoliticians, lobbyists, investors, "job creators" = egomaniacs(they once were just "business owners"), also the artist formerly known as companies. There's a reason everyone plays stupid regarding climate change. If clean energy is everywhere, then we are no longer dependent on oil and by the way, oil companies spent more than a century building that monopoly. Clean energy is the biggest enemy to oil and oil companies have known this for decades. Therefore they defend fossil fuel to the death. But your average person can't wrap their heads around that simple concept. Because fossil fuel has brainwashed them into thinking if they buy a Prius they are unamerican. "Can't put a gun rack in a Prius" was the reasoning real Americans would never, ever, ever buy a Prius because that's obviously unamerican. Makes sense to me. *face plant*
We can complain about fossil fuels expense. We can complain about pollution, politicians, lobbyists, monopolies and price fixing. We can complain about dumping nuclear waste into the ocean. Hell, industrial waste of any kind dumped anywhere. So why are so many people incapable of understanding something so simple? "Obamacare" "Because nothing is free even the sun and wind???" "BENGHAZI BENGHAZI BENGHAZI!" "Emperor Obama trying to manipulate us?" "Taxes on our sun consumption will be a "job killer" and an unsustainable burden on the economy because there's no "pay for" and if we privatized social security and education everything would be just fine and dandy." That is the Teabillies reasoning because FOX tells them so and if it's on the TeeVee then it must be true except for the TeeVee stations that are not FOX.
The oil company can't put a meter on my wind mill, or your wind mill. Hello? Hello???
Maybe if we built solar panels with gun racks and a Mossy Oak motif we could get some serious R and D funding and lead the world in clean energy? Create millions of jobs today and tomorrow. Leave an infrastructure to our kids that we can all be proud of.
Why are oil companies not diversifying to include clean energy into their business model?