High gas prices not caused by speculators

By Steve Buckstein
In: Measure 37
Tuesday June 24, 2008

Why are gasoline prices going through the roof? Whatever the reasons, oil speculation isn’t one of them. That’s the conclusion of Cato Institute senior fellow Alan Reynolds in a column published by the New York Post on June 20th. Reynolds starts out saying:

“Senator John McCain recently called for a “˜thorough and complete investigation of speculators’ to see if they’ve driven up oil prices. And Senate Democrats plan a new bill aimed at commodity speculators – a witch hunt that’s clearly about oil.

“But, much as politicians would like to blame speculators, it’s just not so.”

Read the full column at:
Scapegoating the Speculators

Founder and Senior Policy Analyst at Cascade Policy Institute, Steve Buckstein is Director of Cascade’s Government Transparency Project and the Oregon Economic Opportunity Project. Based in Portland, Cascade Policy Institute is Oregon’s free market research center.

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