The story that just won't go away is higher gas prices. It would seem that the only thing worse is bird flu. But then you read a story about Iran's nuclear program. So I have to throw in my two cents here and say that the biggest problem facing our country is speculation. We have twenty-four hour news which is really great when you can't sleep in the middle of the night. I guess it's also good when a really big news story is developing, but the problem with that is the constant speculation on where the story might go next. This fear mongering and erroneous reporting drives me crazy!
My boss and I have been talking about the gas prices for the past few days and we both agree that all the media and politicians' frenzy over potential shortages is causing prices to spike well beyond what the market should dictate. I expect prices to be a little higher because of the instability in the Middle East and we are entering the summer travel season, but there is no actual gas shortage.
Speculation isn't going anywhere but I saw one refreshing and prudent comment from a politician this afternoon. Sadly, that politician was not a member of our House, Senate or our President. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah, the Energy Minister of Qatar, said that the price of oil would drop by $15 if politicians would just stop talking about shortages. I love the idea of public ownership of stocks, securities and futures, but I really hate how the market is so easily manipulated by the sensational comments of politicians posturing during an election year. Our leaders would be smart to take Al Attiyah's advice and just shut the hell up!
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twin peaks day
6 years ago
2 comments:
It was the stupid press doing exactly this - fear mongering and erroneous reporting - that caused the nightmare traffic jam of Hurricane Rita last year (we like to refer to it as the Runaway Scrape). I totally agree with you that the speculation and news reporting of events get things way out of proportion real quick.
Oh, don't get me started about the media. When you live in the media capital I swear of the entire world, it gets old REAL fast. I am so tired of the Media Frenzy. I don't even have to buy gas and I'm sick of hearing about it!
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