created with the help of Google Gemini
It is notable that sometimes political actions have opposite effect from their original objectives. For example, the Arab Oil Embargo in 1973 resulted in downsizing of American cars, a rise in the sale of Japanese compacts and the development of US government standards to increase fuel efficiency. The end result? A reduced Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
History Repeats
Of course, once the ensuing recession was over, the race to use more oil continued, but we are now getting another reminder.
The closing of the Strait of Hormuz drawns attention once again to the danger of being dependent upon a politically volatile source for our energy.
It will take a while, but people are going to notice that the sun shines, the wind blows, and the rivers run inside their own countries. Future historians could well peg this war as the turning point in the shift to renewable power.
Price Gouging
And just when their customers are looking around for alternate sources, perhaps the oil companies might look to one of their common scams. Every time something happens to the source of our auto fuels, the prices rise. Immediately. The oil companies say this rise is to offset the price it will cost them to replace what they sell.
Wait a minute. A service station is sitting on top of several tanks, each containing about twenty thousand litres of fuel. For which they paid a wholesale price of less than a buck and a half a litre. Now they’re selling the same gas for two dollars. That’s a windfall of fifty cents a litre. If they had a hundred thousand litres in stock…well, you do the math. When the new, expensive wholesale gas starts to trickle in, they will pass the cost for that on to the customer, too, and pocket the fifty thousand.
And we’re worried about the rising price of goods and services.
If we widen our scope, it’s possible to suggest that Trump’s grab for power is going to result in a reduction of his nation’s influence in the world. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bunch of people.
The Bottom Line
We all know that Big Oil is ripping us off; that’s what this present war is all about. Wouldn’t it be sweet if it was the beginning of the end?
PS
Of course, as of the moment, the glass is mostly empty, The rich are still getting richer, and governments are losing control over them. The Roman Empire started out as a republic. Likewise NAZI Germany.