I thought the call for Nationalized Oil was an off the cuff remark....

[OddManRush]

Originally Posted by jom

LOL. So the govt wants to get into the Oil business. Well, I'm sure that will go swimmingly. I mean, after all, the govt is so good at taking care of our retirement (note: SS and Medicare are collapsing) and it certainly does a wonderful job in curtailing it's expenses (Note: the budget is ballooning at an alarming rate) so...yeah...I think it's a GREAT idea.

Count me in!

jom

If the government kept the same profit margin in the oil industry that exists for the nonce then all the government funding issues would be solved immediately!

[jom]

I hope everyone understands the reason for the extreme profit these companies are making are due to the fact the isn't enough competition. To me, when there are hugh profit margins that just screams lack of other players in the industry. Maybe the govt can help in THAT regard instead of this idiotic idea of nationalization or even the stupid profit tax. There must be a large "barrier to entry" into this business otherwise there would be a lot of competitors and the profits would sink like a stone. Of course, the issue here is not the profits but the price we are paying...

The preceding I was referring to the gas companies..the ones who refine. Now the OIL issues could be different (although they could be many of the same companies). I see wild speculation on barrels of Oil. Even large institutional investors are getting in on the "action". And just like recent food prices, oil is skyrocketing on this speculation. It is no different than the recent run up in real estate and the "tech" boom in the stock market before that. China and India have really little to do with this most recent run up...the demand is high but not when prices double in two years. Has China's economy double in said time? No.

jom

[Leonidas]

Don't hit the panic button all you 'free marketeers.' The government isn't going to nationalize anything because the oil companies have already corporatized the government. This is idle talk by a few fringy Democrats being blown up into an OMG SOCIALISM!! issue by Fox and the Republicans for electioneering purposes. RELAX! Monopoly capitalism is operating in good order!!

The oil company oligopoly does exactly what jom says it does, but it ain't going nowhere because it is impossible for any entity that might compete (other than the government!?!) to amass the capital and the expertise to compete with the economies of scale that the oil giants have built. We're getting no new oil companies, we'll only see more mergers if anything. They own our asses and they aren't accountable to us in any meaningful way.

Get used to it getting worse until the government starts to give a substantial boost to alternative energy technologies that aren't controlled by megacorporations by giving those entrepreneurs and start ups big contracts that provide them markets and allow them to develop with some kind of safety net.

[KINGS17]

Originally Posted by jom

I hope everyone understands the reason for the extreme profit these companies are making are due to the fact the isn't enough competition. To me, when there are hugh profit margins that just screams lack of other players in the industry. Maybe the govt can help in THAT regard instead of this idiotic idea of nationalization or even the stupid profit tax. There must be a large "barrier to entry" into this business otherwise there would be a lot of competitors and the profits would sink like a stone. Of course, the issue here is not the profits but the price we are paying...

The preceding I was referring to the gas companies..the ones who refine. Now the OIL issues could be different (although they could be many of the same companies). I see wild speculation on barrels of Oil. Even large institutional investors are getting in on the "action". And just like recent food prices, oil is skyrocketing on this speculation. It is no different than the recent run up in real estate and the "tech" boom in the stock market before that. China and India have really little to do with this most recent run up...the demand is high but not when prices double in two years. Has China's economy double in said time? No.

jom

I think you are onto something here. Allowing too many oil companies to merge hasn't helped the problem.

Where's Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?

[jom]

[quote=KINGS17;1175574Where's Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?[/QUOTE]

We need a Trust Buster!

Actually, I'm not onto anything. It's just basic Econ. Big profits usually mean NO COMPETITION. If it's true that there has been a lot of mergers (I don't know this as I haven't paid attention to that) then clearly this has to be one of the major reasons for this.

But, again, profits aren't the necessarily the problem here. It's the amount we are paying for the gas. Usually, the market should be able to adjust so something is out of whack here...maybe it's what Leon stated...I dunno...

jom

[Crazy_Ivan]

Originally Posted by Leonidas

Get used to it getting worse until the government starts to give a substantial boost to alternative energy technologies that aren't controlled by megacorporations by giving those entrepreneurs and start ups big contracts that provide them markets and allow them to develop with some kind of safety net.

Do you think the oil companies will ever allow that to happen?

[irisher]

Originally Posted by Crazy_Ivan

Do you think the oil companies will ever allow that to happen?

Probably not, which is why even the mere threat of nationalization might be necessary. It's the only logic these pirates understand.