Almost seven years has gone by

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

Definitely the first three. As people get richer, they eat more meat and burn more oil. Hence our present situation. I think the current mess in Iraq is a accelerating factor, but not a cause.

Stiglitz, whom I mentioned before, and who is referred two in another current thread, totally disagrees, pointing out that before the Iraq war the prognosis on oil prices expected them to be stable at around 25-35 US$ for longer time to come - increased world demand and raised demand in China and India already calculated in. The explosive multiplication of oil prices he directly attributes to the Iraq war.

[PeriscopeDepth]

Sorry, I did not word that as well as I could have. By connected, I did not mean to imply causation. I think that the 1991 PGW was the first large war for resources. OIF was really just finishing an undeclared war that had gone on for more than a decade, and was a move to secure these resources (control, but not own rather than just assure their secure passage as was done in 1991). I understand that OIF is a cause in the rapid oil price increase. Didn't exactly work out the way the admin planned, "being welcomed" by the Iraqis and whatnot.

PD