battman

Oil Price Economics the 60 Minutes Way

To totally dismiss the hundreds of billions of dollars that were ivested by the investment bankers and pension funds is ridiculous. The whole problem as I see it is when the investment banks, pensions funds and souveriegn (sp?) funds started getting too aggressive in their investing practices. It was no longer okay to make a return, but now you had to make a BIG return on your money. At what cost? Does it make sense that you drive oil prices up to $ 147.00 when the people you represent (CalPERs as an example) can't afford the gas to drive their car, or the cost of food because of shipping and packaging increases?
If my investment strategies increases your cost of living by 10%, but when you retire I can bump up your retirment pay by 7%, who benefits? Other than the people who work at CalPERs who were involved in the trades and increased their own bonuses?
NB. CalPERs can be substitued with any number of pensions funds, investment banks, etc.

What we're seeing here is too much money chasing too few deals. This will not end with oil, and like oil, the government will only be reacting after the damage is done and the money has been made.