Bachmann says that if she is elected president we will have $2.00 a gallon gasoline.

Politicians say things all the time.

And if a genuine libertarian is elected as president, gas prices will probably drop to around ∅0.25 per gallon, after all of the taxes, regulations and subsidies are eliminated.

She says that we will drill for oil everywhere.

Again, politicians talk trash all the time. Most likely, no one will be drilling for oil (or natural gas, or anything else) in my backyard or on my front lawn, just like it’s likely that no one will be drilling on your front lawn, or in Bachmann’s backyard.

That being the case, I have no problem with someone drilling for oil in the ANWR, or off the Gulf Coast.

The problem is that still will have no effect on the price of oil. First, it takes years to develop a well.

Gotta start sometime – better late than never.

Fourth,no president can exert control over the price of a commodity unless he/she is operating under a socialist system. Is Bachmann really a socialist?

In some ways, she is a socialist (or fascist, if you prefer), in that she signs off on the various and sundry federal regulations upon the economy, most of which are anti-market, if not anti-Constitutional. Has she proposed repealing the ban on selling your kidneys, which was signed into law by Reagan in 1984? Has she sponsored a repeal of the National Firearms Act, so that I can order an MP-5 subgun and have it delivered directly to my door, with the only paperwork being the sales slip?

justthefax said:

Mike, repectfully, with respect to the price of oil, you have no idea what you are talking about.I don’t claim to be an expert in economics. But still, some basic rules apply, regardless of the commodity in question.

1. Price is dependent upon supply and demand.

2. When supply is high and demand is low, prices drop.
3. When supply is low and demand is high, prices rise.

Every single time there has been a major announcement about the possibility of an effect on supply, either positive or negative the price of oil, spot and future going 3 months out has been affected and in some cases as much as 10%. Obama’s accouncement that he was going to drill more in the gulf, unrest in the middle east, more regulations, platform explosion, OPEC increasing or decreasing quotas, etc etc etc the list goes on and on and on. Speculators are not going to pour billions of dollars into futures contracts when the future price is going to be lower.

1. All of the factors cited here are things that may or may not affect the supply of available oil in the future.

2. All speculators really do is place bets on whether the price of oil will rise or fall in the future. Just another form of gambling, only one that you don’t need approval from some idiot with the Gaming Control Board to take part in.
3. Obama isn’t going to do any drilling. At most, he’s going to issue orders and proclamations allowing others (probably Petrobras for his buddy Soros) to drill for oil.