Oil is the new housing.
It’s overinflated by artificial means, the demand has dropped precipitously, supply is ample– yet the price of gas continues to soar.
My take is, it’s all speculation– just like the housing market, investor greed is propping the price up. Congress launched a shot across the bow by deferring allotments to the strategic reserve, but that alone will not stop the feeding frenzy.
If we learned anything at all from the housing “catastrophe” it’s that early action is better than late, and ignoring the problem is a recipe for disaster.
Congress should immediately reinstate an updated version of the price controls abolished by Reagan in 1981. Chances are, just their serious consideration of the topic will be enough to spook the speculators away.