Do you really think the price of crude oil is set by a free market forces? Do you even care?

see---%26gt; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con鈥?/a>Do you really think the price of crude oil is set by a free market forces? Do you even care?
I believe the market is free and thus price is not ';set';. Speculators are free to buy and sell the futures as they please, and as we see every day the price fluctuates. But as the article infers, the market price is most certainly influenced maliciously by the OPEC nations (and we all know why). The problem, as the article also states, is that we (the US) have done nothing about it. There is more oil, both outside and within our own borders, but our appeasement approach in world affairs and our own political issues at home have only exacerbated the situation. Also we have failed to simply use less and seek out alternative fuels (which in my opinion should be the private sector's responsibility, not the government's). So yes, free market, but with forces working against it, and yes of course I care, which is why when I vote, I tend to back candidates that do not appease foreign nations out of fear, but instead fight back.





EDIT: Following your edits... OK, since you don't like the word ';believe'; I'll simply state that it is a FACT that the price of oil is not ';set';. The price changes by the trade and you can see this on any market web site. If you don't understand that then I don't know what else to say.


And I'll correct what I said about the US doing ';nothing'; and just repeat what the article says; that we have done ';little';. Carter was not President in 1974 so I don't know what you are thinking about. Are you talking about speed limits, daylight savings time, rationing, or the extensive government controls on price and allocation (which made the prices go higher)? ...By the way, Reagan removed these controls and the effect was lower prices both at the pump and by OPEC... really dropped the ball there. Or were you referring to Carter leaving the Shah of Iran out to dry, and then after the revolution placing an embargo on Iranian imports (causing higher prices). I suggest you read your own article because from your edits I can't tell who's side you are on. Do you want free markets or don't you? More government control = less free trade (and usually as history proves, higher prices).





EDIT: Lionheart, so a because only people with the means to invest can buy and sell futures contract, its not a free market? So I guess you mean all commodities are not freely traded because its the same for everything from gas to gold to corn. I'd love to know what your idea of a free market is if you think that everyone should have a say in what the market price is even if they cannot invest. What do you want? Do you want the government to simply declare the price per barrell? Do you want the companies to have to get permission from people in some kind of gas price vote? There's a word for what you want, and its not ';Free Market';, its quite the opposite. It really grinds my gears when people answer questions like these when they've probably never cracked an Econ book in their lives.Do you really think the price of crude oil is set by a free market forces? Do you even care?
I think it would be a strategy to buy oil when it is low put in a reserve then draw out when the price goes sky ward.


I would also trade commodities for oil, if they want to eat they would want to trade. The USA should buy (trade) oil until it is gone before tapping into our reserves which we DON'T sell to anyone for any price.
It is not a free market when the largest producers are part of a cartel.





It is not a free market when only rich speculators set the price.