Pumping Conspiracy Theories
October 6, 2006 at 9:13 am
The Washington Post reports on politics-driven conspiracy theories driving the plummeting price of gas:
Are the big oil companies lowering prices to help the Republicans?
White House press secretary Tony Snow recently gave the best retort to such comical nonsense:
The one thing I have been amused by is the attempt by some people to say that the President has been rigging gas prices, which would give him the kind of magisterial clout unknown to any other human being. It also raises the question, if we’re dropping gas prices now, why on earth did we raise them to $3.50 before?
Of course, if prices keep on dropping, we might soon get down to Sopranos-level, as immortalized in the opening montage.
Hmmm… perhaps the mob is driving the good economic news? Just a theory.
richard andrews said,
October 6, 2006 @ 11:18 am
Don’t think this rises to the level of a theory; more like a proposition - something the mob knows all about!
metric said,
October 6, 2006 @ 11:45 am
1) Ex. CIA head James Woolsey and the Economist’s Energy editor agree that the Saudis can and do manipulate the price of oil for various reasons.
A) Woolsey said that this was done during Gulf War I and II (aka political purposes).
B) Bandar Bush.
2) The Bush Administration is on the record as having urged the Saudis to lower oil prices.
With the Bush Administration basically admitting the ploy, I’d say this post and articles like it are all about journalists who know little about how the oil markets work eschewing conspiracy theories, so they sound above it all.