It seems as though the Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, has finally gotten exactly what they want. The price of a barrel of oil reached six month highs the other day and now there is a looming meeting of the countries to discuss whether or not to cut production.
At this point in time it appears as though a production cut is not going to happen, and the only reason that anyone can come up with is that OPEC was finally able to get exactly what it wanted. Meaning, the price of oil went up and their wallets started getting fat again.
The price of oil isn’t growing on actual demand for the commodity; the price is rising because stock markets all over the world are rising. Usually the price of oil rises with the markets and the markets usually begin to gain in the months prior to growth in industrial production and a reduction in unemployment.
It is nice to think that the recession could be coming to a close soon. When you look at the price of oil, however, it peaked seven months into the current recession (after all, the recession, according to reports, started in December of 2007).
Now, when the majority of your income depends on the price of commodities, not necessarily oil, it is important for the economy to pick back up. Then again, it is important to everyone for the economy to pick up.
Whether you’re income is tied to commodities, you’re a new graduate who really needs a job to start paying back some of those outrageous student loans, or you’re a home owner who is trying to sell your house to move to a place where you can find a job, the health of the economy is so important.
Hopefully the treasury secretary and Ben Bernanke were right when they said that the recession would be ending by the end of the year. It will be nice to see some economic growth, even if it means higher gas prices. At least when the economy starts picking up, many of us who don’t have jobs right now will have them later, and we can actually afford the gas.