Conspiracy Theory
I like novels about conspiracies. There are these really smart people who can manipulate other people and manage events to achieve desired results; and they do it in complete secrecy. My experience tells me that great conspiracies don't happen in the real world.
First of all, most people aren't really that smart and, if they are, they are compelled to tell everybody about it.
In the great Paul Newman, Robert Redford movie, "The Sting", a gang of con artists conspired to bring down a gambling kingpin in an elaborate scheme. As fantastic as the scheme was, the most unbelievable part of the movie was that, after the bad guy had met his fate, the participants couldn't and didn't tell anyone what they had done.
Despite my skepticism, I'm beginning to wonder if some conspiracy is not at work in the pricing of gasoline.
We've had a string of bad news about oil: the shortage of refining capacity, the slow recovery from hurricanes, Chinese economic growth, the war in Iraq, the pipeline problems in Alaska, the insurgency in Nigeria, the Iran nuclear crisis, the bad relations with Venezuela and the Israeli/Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon, to name just a few. All of these things were blamed for the run-up in gas prices. Gas prices went from $2.30 to $3.00 in a matter of weeks, and I'm buying the justification.
Now, in a matter of days, gas prices drop from $3.00 to $2.89 to $2.49 to $2.12. All of these issues continue to fester with oil production and refining. What's changed? The conspiracy buffs note that the US is weeks away from mid-term elections which could well determine control of both houses of congress. Could they be right? Is somebody smart enough? Will we find out?
First of all, most people aren't really that smart and, if they are, they are compelled to tell everybody about it.
In the great Paul Newman, Robert Redford movie, "The Sting", a gang of con artists conspired to bring down a gambling kingpin in an elaborate scheme. As fantastic as the scheme was, the most unbelievable part of the movie was that, after the bad guy had met his fate, the participants couldn't and didn't tell anyone what they had done.
Despite my skepticism, I'm beginning to wonder if some conspiracy is not at work in the pricing of gasoline.
We've had a string of bad news about oil: the shortage of refining capacity, the slow recovery from hurricanes, Chinese economic growth, the war in Iraq, the pipeline problems in Alaska, the insurgency in Nigeria, the Iran nuclear crisis, the bad relations with Venezuela and the Israeli/Hezbollah fighting in Lebanon, to name just a few. All of these things were blamed for the run-up in gas prices. Gas prices went from $2.30 to $3.00 in a matter of weeks, and I'm buying the justification.
Now, in a matter of days, gas prices drop from $3.00 to $2.89 to $2.49 to $2.12. All of these issues continue to fester with oil production and refining. What's changed? The conspiracy buffs note that the US is weeks away from mid-term elections which could well determine control of both houses of congress. Could they be right? Is somebody smart enough? Will we find out?
posted by Crotchety Old Fart at 11:13 AM
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