To the Editor of the New York Times,
Your editorial “Speculators and the Gas Pump” urging tighter regulation of the oil market is a fool’s errand in these days of legislative gridlock. But contrary to your assertion, there is an “easy fix” available to President Obama, although not the Republican prescription of “more drilling or more pipelines.”
As demonstrated by his role in the current spike, President Obama has the power to influence the supply and demand of the commodity. The barrel oil price is largely determined by bets placed by speculators (“investors” if you prefer) based on their anticipation of future S & D.
If the President would walk back his sanctions on Iranian oil exports and his threats to attack, or assist Israel to attack, Iran, speculators would start betting on an improved oil supply. And lo and behold, that pump price would fall.
Michael Munk is the author of The Portland Red Guide: Sites and Stories From Our Radical Past. Visit his Web site: <www.michaelmunk.com>.
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