by Mark Thoma, University of Oregon (Department of Economics)

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More Speculation about Those Oil Speculators

Posted on August 22, 2008

A Washington Post article claiming that one firm, Vitrol, at one point in July,... held 11 percent of all the oil contracts on the regulated New York Mercantile Exchange reinforced the beliefs of those who claim that unregulated speculation is behind the recent swings in commodity prices.Jim Hamilton throws cold water on this idea. He has other objections to the article, but here's the one relating to the 11 percent figure that has received so much attention:More speculation about those oil speculators, econbrowser: I normally leave it to folks like Dean Baker to beat up on the press. But I ...

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commodities , commodity , futures , new york mercantile exchange , petroleum