Desperate Times Do Not Call for Speculative Measures

Conn Carroll / July 23, 2008

Faced with mounting public consensus for more domestic energy production, liberals in Congress are desperate to pass anything that they can claim will lower energy prices (well they will pass anything as long as it doesn’t include actually producing more energy). Yesterday Senate Democrats passed a bill to stop “excessive, relentless speculation” in oil. Liberals claim their plan will reduce oil prices by 20 to 50 percent. Also yesterday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Reserve, and five other federal agencies released a joint report concluding there was no evidence that investors are systematically pushing up the cost of energy.

Commenting on the liberals desperation to blame high oil prices on speculators, The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle writes:

The first thing I think is that my liberal friends should stop saying their party is more credible on economic issues. Because this is even stupider than McCain’s doubling down on the gas tax holiday–and McCain’s gas tax mania is plenty stupid. At least McCain’s gas tax manipulations won’t actually do something except give a small amount of additional money to oil companies and loathesome governments. This monstrous bill, on the other hand, might actually do some damage.