Economist: Pricier Oil Means Less Globalization

Just last summer, oil was surging toward $150 a barrel and gas prices were hitting $4 a gallon. The recession brought those prices crashing down, and today it may seem like high oil prices are one of the few economic problems that we don’t have to worry about.

But Canadian economist Jeff Rubin says what we saw last summer was a glimpse of our future.

In his new book, Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller, Rubin contends that oil, which is currently around $60 a barrel, will quickly top $100 a barrel when the world economy rebounds.

“We’re going to see triple-digit oil prices very early in the next recovery,” Rubin tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep. Furthermore, he says, we should expect oil to stay at those levels because demand will consistently outstrip supply in the coming years.

NPR (audio and excerpt from the book)