Open Thread

August 8th, 2008 10:07 AM

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Has the oil bubble finally burst?

If the trend continues into September at anything like the same rate of descent, most of the inflationary spike of the past 12 months will miraculously have been sliced away. This is a dramatic reversal, and it is worth trying to work out why it is happening and what it means. Just possibly, it means that what investors refer to in shorthand as the great "oil up" story has finally revealed itself not as the fundamental reflection of scarce supply that its adherents liked to claim, but as a simple, speculative bubble that was always going to burst.

Bear in mind that commodity prices are also plummeting, and the dollar is screaming. Read the entire piece...let the debate begin.