by Newfie » Sat 16 Jan 2016, 12:53:32
As I said above, I've no idea if this is the great contraction. I kinda think not, or maybe just the first flutters of the downward yo yo.
A couple of comments.
1. For those who believe in TPTB please explaine to me how and why they are causing this to happen. What is their gain?
2. I'll offer a possible, non TPTB explanation. Our financial system is based on trust and fear as Tanda said above. Part of that trust is that there is a balance in the system. Changes can be made, but slowly, so that the players can adjust. No wild movements. Yet in the past few years we have had events that have destabilized the balance. Notably that in the face of a mildish global recession the oil producers did not adjust supply (US actions are notable, if not explainable) causing a rather large, undesired shift in the balance. It's not so much TPTB guiding the global economy as various short sighted and parochial investors grabbing for too much. Think of someone jumping from one side of a rowboat to another, it gets out of balance. "Don't rock the boat."
I can see why SA doesn't want to slow production, they need the money. That might be true for many producers. Kind of hard to explain US actions in the face of this: gas, fracking, export ban, Iran trade restrictions lifting. It all rocks the boat. With oil so cheap it ripples through the global economy. Cheap oil takes money out of circulation. I spend $30 to fill up, not $70. That $40 not going to the gas station, his workers, the supplier, their works, etc.
What is needed is to tighten the oil supply, to increase costs, to balance the boat. This is why I fear we may be on the cusp of war in the ME.