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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44695)	9/27/2003 4:20:29 AM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Vienna -- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries unexpectedly agreed Wednesday to cut oil production on Nov. 1, just as most of the developed world will be heading toward winter and demand for heating oil is likely to be rising.... The Bush administration, fearing the economic damage of higher oil prices, had successfully lobbied OPEC heavily before and during the war to keep supplies ample and prices in check. Low prices would still help to spur the economy, but they also limit the amount of money Iraq can raise to pay for its own reconstruction. President Bush has asked Congress for $87 billion to pay for military and reconstruction operations in Iraq next year, a sum that is much higher than expected... And now the Democrats will rightly ask why we should spend $87 billion just to strengthen OPEC? I'm waiting for a good answer. UPDATE: Okay, here's Benjamin Zycher bringing a little sanity to the discussion: The degree to which we are dependent upon foreign oil, however unstable, is irrelevant because the world oil market can have only one price, which all nations must face. Therefore, an oil-supply disruption raises prices equally for all, whether they import none, some, or all of their oil. Nations that import substantial amounts thus are no more 'vulnerable' to the effects of disruptions than those that import little; and subsidies for expensive domestic sources in place of cheaper imports represent, almost literally, money poured down a hole. However, he fails to address the question of cartel-price setting (however ineffective) and appropriate response. Link posted by Steve Antler : 8:35 AM Primitive accumulation causes terrorism? Tom Friedman's knowledge of real-world development economics seems less than his foggy memory of college Marxism: Sure, poverty doesn't cause terrorism...But poverty is great for the terrorism business because poverty creates humiliation and stifled aspirations and forces many people to leave their traditional farms to join the alienated urban poor in the cities -- all conditions that spawn terrorists. Okay, lemme see if I understand. Sure, poverty doesn't cause terrorism, but actually it really does? Anyway, somebody should bring him up to date about third world development and agricultural economics. If the US, EU, and Japan gave up all their farm subsidies, as LDC's agriculture commercialized there would be more, not less population flow from third world countryside to city. And, by Friedman's neo-Marxist analysis, this would cause more terrorism. Link posted by Steve Antler : 6:56 AM Trial Lawyers Inc. First read today's Bartlett: Unfortunately, the tobacco companies seem to have learned nothing from their experience with anti-smoking zealots and are actually opening the door to lawsuits against their food divisions. They don't seem to understand that their enemies are not driven by genuine concerns about health or even by greed, but by ideology. They bring a religious fervor to their efforts that combine a Marxist hatred of capitalism with extraordinary naivete about human nature, mixed together with a tort liability system that is eager to award large damages based on the flimsiest of evidence. Then go here for PDF of Trial Lawyers Inc.: Out of total U.S. tort costs of over $200 billion -- more than 2% of GDP -- Trial Lawyers, Inc. grosses $40 billion per year in revenues, or 50% more than Microsoft or Intel and twice those of Coca-Cola. Link posted by Steve Antler : 6:36 AM