We Needed Higher Oil Prices

On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton makes the counterintuitive case that higher oil prices early in the Persian Gulf conflict might have reduced the economic damage. He explains how government intervention and the release of strategic oil reserves distort market signals, discourage production and conservation, and leave the global energy market increasingly vulnerable to future disruptions.

See also the “Crude Oil Prices: West Texas Intermediate (WTI)” chart at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DCOILWTICO

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