>Anyway, I would be interested in hearing what some of
>the economists on this list have to say about this
>piece.
I'm not an economist, but I think Bina is right about the oil market - it's a mostly competitive market, not one with administered prices. I think he exaggerates U.S. economic decline, but that's my particular bete noir. And he doesn't have much to say about the political angle - U.S. desire to have a chokehold over world oil supplies, to exert control over Europe, Japan, and increasingly, China.
Doug