[lbo-talk] War about oil?

[Shane Taylor]

John Thornton wrote:
>  Good guys wouldn't blockade France (a NATO friend)
> but telling France we won't sell them cheap oil could
> be spun as "just business", a much easier sell at
> home.

Doug Henwood wrote:
> Who are the "we" that would refuse to sell France
> "cheap" oil? Oil is traded on international commodity
> markets, populated by suppliers small and large,
> including some French ones. It's the classic fungible
> good. How could "we" selectively gouge the French and
> not the Brits?

There seems to be a problem of price discrimination here.  Even assuming
that a puppet government and privatized oil industry gives the US great
influence over prices.  In order to gouge some but not others, they'd
have to be able to both segment the market and prevent the resale of
cheap oil.

-- Shane

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