The plot thickens. It reads like a cheap dime-store mystery novel, you know, the ones that start out: There was a blood stained womens nightgown on the floor of the conservatory; a piece of duct tape with lipstick and a few strands of blond hair on it, stuck to a nightshade plant in the garden; a shovel with some still-wet dirt on it was standing in the corner of the foyer; a bottle of drain cleaner and three ticket stubs to Phantom of the Opera were on the kitchen table. And a jar of petroleum jelly propped open the cellar door. And then Chapter 1 abruptly ends. You hope that in Chapter 2, all of these disparate, but nonetheless intriguing, events somehow come together. But mostly, you wonder, How does the petroleum jelly tie in? Although mostly ignored by the mainstream media, in the real world, theres an odd collection of events brewing that, taken together, are as intriguing as any cheap mystery novel. The Internet press, and a legion of blog zombies and conspiracy theorists, have been having a wonderful time with it. Not since the gathering in Europe in the year 1000, to witness the end of the world, have so many been convinced that the end of the present form of the oil world and the demise of the US economy, as we know it, is at hand. So, with that in mind, here are the elements of todays mystery:
Its true that M3 is not the most renowned indicator, now that another indicator, M2 has gained favor, but its hardly worthless, or expensive to obtain. Also, over time, the three money-supply indicators, M1, M2 and M3 have ebbed and flowed in prominence. Perhaps M3 would have seen better days in a future spotlight, but not now. The key questions become: Doesnt this make it easier to simply create money in secret, to buy dollars in secret, to prop up its value against, say, the euro, so that it would not lose the faith? Is the Oil Bourse a real threat, an unspoken reason for the saber-rattling? Will the US ask Israel to bomb Iran, as a pretext for war? Are China, Russia and Europe really giving the Oil Bourse serious consideration? Since the dollar now enjoys universal support in oil transactions, is it possible that US leaders are just shrugging their shoulders, saying, So what, who cares? Is the saber-rattling toward Iran sincerely about uranium enrichment? Ive always been perplexed at the rules the West dictates to the world. Somehow, its perfectly alright for Israel to have a stockpile of nuclear weapons well, not officially, but lets be real and to not even be expected to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. But if Iran or any Middle Eastern country even thinks about a uranium-enrichment program, which is permitted under the treaty, it should be sanctioned and, if need be, bombed. How many Americans would be OK with a doctrine, demanded by some foreign government, that Canada or Cuba can have as many nuclear weapons as they want, but the US can have none? After seeing how much respect North Korea got, what self-respecting citizen of any Middle Eastern country would not want nuclear parity with Israel? Some things are just too simple to understand. The bloggers and Internet press are aghast. As one writer put it, A renunciation of the dollar is worse than an Iranian nuclear attack. Another said, A move away from the dollar towards the euro could have a disastrous effect on the US economy, as it would no longer be able to spend beyond its means. Im not enough of an economist to know whether these disparate facts are truly related they dont call economics the dismal science for nothing. But I cant wait to see how all this works out in Chapter 2.
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- Prices and governmental policies combine to stymie Canadian upstream growth (February 2024)
- U.S. producing gas wells increase despite low prices (February 2024)
- U.S. drilling: More of the same expected (February 2024)
- U.S. oil and natural gas production hits record highs (February 2024)
- U.S. upstream muddles along, with an eye toward 2024 (September 2023)
- Canada's upstream soldiers on despite governmental interference (September 2023)