Ales Rarus

A Rare Bird, A Strange Duck, One Funky Blog

random thought of the moment:

A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home. Among the Romans it was a standing maxim to excite a war, whenever a revolt was apprehended. Throughout all Europe, the armies kept up under the pretext of defending, have enslaved the people. — James Madison

Suing OPEC

May 22nd, 2008 by Funky Dung

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices

"The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure."
[…]
"'This bill guarantees that oil prices will reflect supply and demand economic rules, instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities,' said Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who sponsored the legislation."

My guess is that OPEC is charging fair market values. The price of oil is skyrocketing because the US dollar is dying. Compared to the price of gold, oil has stayed level. There hasn't been any real increase in demand. Until there is, I wouldn't expand OPEC to increase production. After all, what would they get in return? Certainly not increased profit. In fact, they might lose money in the deal.