[Newspoetry] Oil-rigs in the futures market

[DL Emerick]

This just in.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/30/news/companies/exxon_earnings/index.htm?post
version=2009013011


EXXON made $45,220,000,000 profit last year.
(Forty-five billion dollars, for those not speaking digital.)

Roughly, that is, EXXON alone (ie, not considering other oil pirates)
stole about $151 from each person in the United States last year.)

But, cleverly, EXXON and its co-conspirators
in the energy price manipulation market
managed to drop, once again, oil prices during the election cycle,
thus defusing, again, as they have done periodically for many years,
the politics to rein in the oil companies with excess profit taxes.

"Analysts have credited the company for a shrewd,
if controversial, management style -
avoiding lots of spending on expensive projects
to find and develop oil when prices were high."

Dropping oil prices reduced the 4th Quarter highway robbery
to only $8B from $13+B in the 3rd Q.

However, don't worry, if you are one of the oil owners:
"But most analysts say that when the economy recovers,
oil prices will spike once again."

This is called a "business" cycle -- an ever more exploitative one.

To prevent oil price gouging down the road,
when the economy begins recovering,
Congress and Obama should fix the energy problem now --
by nationalizing the oil companies --
or else imposing an oil czar on them.




By the way, as you read the story,
Notice how economic theory says:
"Prices rise to reflect demand,
but that is ok because higher prices cause increased production,
as investment "naturally" rises."

So, when is this economic truth not applicable?

As it always has been:
when monopolies and cartels rig the economic game --

There are always new oil-rigs,
but un-euphemistically we call it robbery.