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Why We Should Be Rooting for $200 per Barrel of Oil--Posner

Posted on May 11, 2008

As Becker explains, we cannot predict the future price of oil. But it is unlikely to rise in the foreseeable future to $200 a barrel, especially if we think in inflation-adjusted terms. Oil prices in real terms have fluctuated a great deal. In December 2007 dollars the price of oil was below $20 in 1946, above $100 in 1979, and only about $10 a recently as 1998. High prices affect both demand and supply; the recent price peaks have already reduced demand for gasoline in the United States and increased efforts to discover and exploit new oil fields. The United States has large untapped oil rese...

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inflation , output , tax , taxes