Falling gasoline prices will provide some stimulus to the economy. But how much?
Category Archives: energy
Bailouts for commodity speculators
If automakers are lining up at the trough, why not Big Agra?
Balancing California’s Energy Needs with its Environmental Goals
That was the topic of a talk by Stanford Professor Frank Wolak at the UCSD Economics Roundtable on Tuesday.
Detroit gets in on the action
With all the excitement in financial markets, I almost missed this story on the bailout for automakers.
What happened to oil markets on Monday?
Here’s how it was reported, for example, in the Wall Street Journal:
Reaction to the Wall Street bailout and frenzied last-minute trading in the oil market sent crude prices soaring by more than $16 a barrel, the biggest one-day jump ever.
The late-day spike, which shoved oil up 16% to $120.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, offered an illustration of Wall Street’s hard-to-predict moves amid broad market turmoil.
And here’s what really happened.
Scott Irwin takes down Michael Masters
Econbrowser is pleased to host another contribution from Scott Irwin, who holds the Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing at the University of Illinois. Today Scott offers a critique of a recent report by Michael Masters on the role of commodity speculation.
Effects of Hurricane Ike on oil and gas markets
As Hurricane Ike took over the Gulf of Mexico, I watched with unusual interest, since I had been scheduled to fly through Houston to give a lecture in Baton Rouge on Friday. We had to cancel that visit to LSU, which left me to contemplate the consequences of Hurricane Ike for oil and gas markets from the comfort of my warm, snug home in San Diego.
A rebound for autos?
August auto sales were less dismal than July. But don’t uncork the champagne quite yet.
A new dynamic for the Middle East
Maybe it’s time to try something new. And maybe it’s already starting.
More speculation about those oil speculators
I normally leave it to folks like Dean Baker to beat up on the press. But I can’t resist shining a bright light on today’s story about oil speculators in the Washington Post, which has also been discussed by Mark Thoma and Tyler Cowen.