Rumors, Myths, and Fabrications: government propaganda nicely packaged with a bow.

[arcadian]

It's a blog put out by the U.S. government, comments are welcome. Let 'em have it! Here's an entry that says, speculators aren't causing the rise in oil prices:


http://blogs.america.gov/rumors/2008/06/16/are-speculators-causing-high-food-and-oil-prices/

Are Speculators Causing High Food and Oil Prices?
— By Todd Leventhal, 16 June 2008

The conspiracy theorist’s natural inclination is to answer “Yes!” In their mental/emotional world, bad things are caused by powerful, evil people acting behind the scenes. Speculators fit this profile perfectly.

For a different perspective, see the June 13 New York Times story on speculators. It cites “people with years of knowledge about how commodity markets work” as saying that “without speculators these markets do not work at all.”

Farmers, miners, oil producers and others involved in producing or consuming commodities – such as food and oil – use futures contracts (a contract to buy or sell commodities at a specified price at a certain time in the future) to decrease uncertainty about the price for which they will eventually sell their production or, if they are consumers, buy it. Without futures markets, there would be much more uncertainty about future prices. This would likely scare some producers away. And if the supply of a commodity goes down, its price goes up. So, future markets make costs lower than they would be otherwise.

Speculators pour additional money into these markets, making them larger and, experts say, less volatile. They argue this makes likely lower, not higher, prices.

If speculators are not the “bad guys,” who are? The article cites several factors causing higher food and oil prices:

• High-growth economies in China and India
• Bad weather
• Increased demand for corn-based ethanol, which drives up corn prices
• The weakening U.S. dollar, which drives up the cost of commodities, such as oil, that are priced in dollars.

In other words, increased demand and decreased supply drive up prices. That’s economics 101.

Unfortunately, complex, abstract causes don’t fit with the very human need to find a villain when things go wrong. So, conspiracy theories, which meet this need, multiply.

[Demeter]

1. It Has Been Amply Demonstrated That YES, Speculation Has Inflated Prices

and anyone still claiming otherwise is a speculator or in total denial of reality.

In fact, now that speculation is being investigated, the hot money is flowing out of commodities and into Treasuries, where it's safer.

[Lifetimedem]

2. Those are factors

But who's door step do they fall on?

The "growth " of india and China is no accident, putting China in the WTO, allowing their cheap goods into this country tariff free, paying corps with tax payer $$ to move to other countries, the expansion of H1 visas to bring in cheap foreign labor and deregulation has caused a crisis in the middle class, even for the educated.


This is a gift from the free trade, deregulators of the Bush administration.. McCains daddy

The price of food has risen because of the completion for corn for food, feed and fuel. What other nation would power their cars with a food staple ?

This falls at the door of the Republicans that have failed to address the fuel crisis seriously for the last 8 years.. ethanol is nothing more than a more polluting and more expensive alternative stop gap..


The value of the dollar is controlled by the government.. this was a ploy by the Bush folks to bring in foreign money into this country


The Republicans have made us a fine mess..

[arcadian]

3. Autumnal equinox kick!