IER takes a closer look at the “68 million acres” legend
Washington, DC - In the last few weeks the phrase “68 million acres” has become nearly ubiquitous in the national “debate” over energy policy. From its birthplace on the second page of Congressional “report” to the front page of major world newspapers, the “68 million [...]
A new study authored by IER economist Robert Murphy , Speculators Fixing Oil Prices? Don’t Bet On It , sheds some much needed light on the role speculation plays in the global oil market.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Record-high oil prices demand a target, and some politicians are increasingly pointing the finger at speculators in the commodities futures markets. [...]
IER’s economist, Robert Murphy, takes on Nordhaus’ dubious case for a carbon tax with Rolling the Dice. The Murphy study is currently under submission at a peer-reviewed economics journal.
As gas prices climb, opponents of increasing domestic oil production are touting the following statistic to bolster their ‘no new production’ postion:
“Since 2000, drilling on land has increased dramatically – climbing about 66 percent– while gas prices continue to increase.”
What’s misssing? Here are the facts:
· Exploratory and development drilling has increased across the board since [...]
Congress Must Face the Law of Supply and Demand. Oil, gasoline, fuel oil, and heating oil and diesel fuel commodities traded in the world market and, therefore, their prices reflect the fundamentals economic principals of supply and demand. While much has been done to reduce demand for energy (CAFE, energy efficiency requirements in buildings, etc.) [...]
There are many components that go into the price at the pump for a gallon of gasoline, but the biggest component is the price of a barrel of oil.
For example, the average price of crude oil in 2007 was $72.34 per barrel. By March of 2008, the price of crude oil reached $105 per barrel, [...]
In the face of record crude oil and gasoline prices, many have called for suspending additions to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). They argue that filling the SPR takes needed crude oil off the market and thus, suspending SPR fills will lower the price of oil and gasoline. Some have even quantified this savings in [...]
The answer is not the United States, as one might think.
Consumption of liquid fuels (both petroleum and bio) is forecast to increase by more than 40 percent from 2004 to 2030. Leading the increase will be Asian countries such as China and India, which are not members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development [...]
Memorandum
DATE: April 13, 2008
TO: Interested Parties.
FROM: William Koetzle, Ph.D. Senior Vice President of Public Policy
RE: House Committee on Energy and Commerce, majority staff paper on: Climate Change Legislation Design, Appropriate Roles for Different Levels of Government.
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The most recent Climate Change Design White Paper aims to: “[Sort] out the appropriate roles of each level of government [...]
by Robert L. Bradley, Jr.
Economists inside and outside of the Austrian-school tradition have formulated a subjectivist theory of mineral resources. While von Mises (1940) presented a rudimentary theory, institutionalist Zimmermann (1933 and after) provided an in-depth mind-centered approach distinct from the objective, neoclassical theory for minerals developed by Jevons (1865, 1866), Gray (1913), and Hotelling [...]
