Cheap oil may be better than Obama

[BuyingThyme]

Cheap oil may be better than Obama
US$1.7-trillion in savings triple global stimulus combined

Janet Whitman, Financial Post Published: Wednesday, March 04, 2009


NEW YORK – Forget Barack Obama's US$787-billion stimulus package.

The global economy is getting a far bigger and more immediate boost from cheaper oil prices as a more than 70% slide in crude from its record of US$147 a barrel in July lines the pockets of consumers and businesses with hundreds of billions of extra dollars.

According to research from the U.K.'s Longview Economics, the world will reap savings of more than US$1.7-trillion on oil this year if crude averages out at US$41.90 a barrel.

"It's a savings which is approximately three times larger than the entire announced 2009 fiscal stimulus of China and the western economies combined," Chris Watling, chief executive of Longview, said.

Unlike government stimulus efforts, which are typically impeded by bureaucracy, the benefit of less expensive oil goes straight to businesses and consumers, he added.

...

http://www.financialpost.com/magazine/story.html?id=1353644

[jwirr]

1. This kind of recovery will not last because sooner or later the price of

oil will rise again and finally be a real problem due to extraction problems.

[BuyingThyme]

2. But it's so damn comforting.

[Juche]

3. Oil has almost always been $40 or less per barrel

The $147 prices were very short lived. They will be back down the road, but by and large you can't compare general oil prices to the prices in summer of last year. Oil was $40 back in 2005, and it wasn't considered a savings.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. THe real reason behind this collapse was $150 oil. The rest followed.

Cheap oil means good economic times.

[BootinUp]

5. All the basic commodities were going through the roof

thanks to all the money pulled from equities and used to buy futures in commodities instead.

[dcindian]

6. And here you have talking point #126

To be used next year when the economy rebounds. Longview Economics is a bunch of idiots it is they use such a short view when picking points in time to make this statement.

[southern_dem]

7. I'm glad to

pay less at the pump. But am also happy the President is being pro-active and pushing for us to get off oil, even if it is cheap at the moment. We need a long term, American solution to the energy issue.