"Now, you must remember: the enemy has only images and illusions behind which he hides his true motives. Destroy the image and you will break the enemy."
--Shaolin Abbott (Enter the Dragon)
When President Obama announced yesterday that his administration would conduct a probe into whether oil and gas prices are being driven higher by illegal manipulation, I had to laugh. Is that as opposed to legal market manipulation as you've been engaging in, Mr President?
This administration has sanctioned the printing of $trillions of dollars. Consequently, asset prices have lifted higher on a rising tide of liquidity.
Now, as it is clear that the confetti-fest is jacking commodity prices higher, the government wants to look for causes other than itself.
Classic behavior, really.
Evidence suggests, however, that the people are become less prone to be duped by these diversionary tactics. As the shot of stimulus begins to lose its effect, polls once more suggest a trend in the number of people who think that we are headed in the wrong direction.
When looking for those to blame for this situation, Mr President, the mirror would be a good place to start.
position in commodities
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As oil and gasoline prices begin their annual rite of spring, I am waiting for another rite that occurs among media pundits and some economists—who ought to know better. That particular ritual is the accusation levied against oil companies that they are "manipulating the market" in order to force up prices.
Like most charges made against businesses in the United States, these are constantly repeated as though those making the accusations actually understand what is happening in a particular industry. Of course, the allegations take on a life of their own and soon Congress and other governmental bodies get into the act and launch
"investigations" to verify what is being said.
~William Anderson, June 2002
The point is that charges of "manipulating the market" are not only baseless, they are downright silly—and dangerous, since they can spur political authorities to create regimes of forced labor. In a free market, involuntary servitude cannot occur. Only when the political authorities attempt to take actual ownership of property that is not theirs can a regime of slavery be imposed. By using charges of "market manipulation," the political classes and their allies are hiding a more sinister agenda.
~William Anderson, June 2002
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