Very much liked this piece, but most of my leftish friends believe gas prices are set by greedy oil companies--the President is never mentioned, but Exxon is. I've gently pointed out that oil is a world commodity and that wars threaten supplies, but now I think I'll just point to this essay instead.
Guess what-if libs (or anyone else) want an end to emissions and an army of electric vehicles, they are going to have to crank up nuclear capability in a big way. If the former head of Greenpeace can tell the hippies to go eff themselves if they can’t handle the idea of nuclear power plants in service of a clean and sane energy policy, so can the Ds. The ball is in your court…..
While the President doesn't control gasoline prices, the left has put a hammerlock on new production. Climate Action 100+, which is a consortium of banks and money managers has basically put the kibosh on firms raising capital for exploration and production. Interestingly, the Arizona AG is investigating Climate Action for antitrust violations. Theoretically, it shouldn't matter whether companies are colluding to push up prices for profits or ideology - consumers are being negatively affected.
These are largely ESG (environmental, social, governance) investors who are more interested in pushing political agendas than corporate returns. Index investors also are a big part of this because they do not have any skin in the game when it comes to the underlying performance of their investments. They are paid to minimize tracking error with the index, not to pick good stocks.
BTW, if you don't support this sort of thing, be aware that the firms that manage your 401k do. And if you are invested in index funds, understand that this sort of thing is the cost of your rock-bottom management fee.
So, while Biden can claim that Democrats are not pushing up gas prices, his ideology is pushing up prices via Woke Inc. Woke Inc depends on people believing that this is "free market," when in fact it is really not. It is using shareholder power to coerce companies into making poor corporate decisions, by shareholders who really do not bear the cost of these decisions. At a minimum, there are questions regarding the fiduciary responsibility of these investors.
If investors were fully aware of what these firms are doing, they probably wouldn't support it.
And to those who are hoping for a transition to electric vehicles: Taken a look at metal prices lately? These folks don't like mines either.
I would add that Sarah Bloom Raskin wants the Fed to regulate for climate more closely. In other words, the banks could fail a regulatory exam for having too much (i.e. any) exposure to the energy sector.
That is where this is going. And that is why the banks are playing along. Cause the Fed can declare that you have too much energy exposure and limit your ability to grow.
Depends on how much you wanna raise. These banks and money managers have agreed to not lend for this sort of thing. You might be able to find smaller amounts (i.e. 5 and 10 million pieces) here and there, but if you want to raise 250MM for a mine expansion or to pursue a new well, you won't get a bank loan from anyone big enough to lend that kind of money, and you won't be able to syndicate a bond or stock offering.
Interesting thesis, Mr. Nyitray. Should extractive corporations have to pay to clean up the mess they make rather than just degrade the environment for future generations and what would happen to the stock value of those companies if they did?
Nonsense, oil prices are set by the subterranean lizard-people pooping it out at the center of the earth. Yes, our cars run on liquid sleestak excrement, this has been proven by "science." Wake up sheeple!
I forgot who originally gave me this metaphor but it goes a little like this.
The economy is a parade. It’s marching down the streets at a slow pace and things happen within that parade. Prices go up. Prices go down. Valuation changes. All of this happens because the parade is moving.
The president is just some jack ass with a big top hat and a cane who jumps out in front of the parade and, to everyone looking from the outside, it seems like he must be leading it since he’s the person in front. When the parade does something good he takes credit and when the parade goes something bad he blames the parade for not following his lead. Even though it was never actually following his lead in the first place.
Except if he went away that parade would still March on.
Very much liked this piece, but most of my leftish friends believe gas prices are set by greedy oil companies--the President is never mentioned, but Exxon is. I've gently pointed out that oil is a world commodity and that wars threaten supplies, but now I think I'll just point to this essay instead.
Yeah. It’s bizarre. If gas prices are low the president takes responsibility. If they’re high he blames evil greedy corporations.
Why did he shut down the keystone pipeline?
Guess what-if libs (or anyone else) want an end to emissions and an army of electric vehicles, they are going to have to crank up nuclear capability in a big way. If the former head of Greenpeace can tell the hippies to go eff themselves if they can’t handle the idea of nuclear power plants in service of a clean and sane energy policy, so can the Ds. The ball is in your court…..
While the President doesn't control gasoline prices, the left has put a hammerlock on new production. Climate Action 100+, which is a consortium of banks and money managers has basically put the kibosh on firms raising capital for exploration and production. Interestingly, the Arizona AG is investigating Climate Action for antitrust violations. Theoretically, it shouldn't matter whether companies are colluding to push up prices for profits or ideology - consumers are being negatively affected.
These are largely ESG (environmental, social, governance) investors who are more interested in pushing political agendas than corporate returns. Index investors also are a big part of this because they do not have any skin in the game when it comes to the underlying performance of their investments. They are paid to minimize tracking error with the index, not to pick good stocks.
BTW, if you don't support this sort of thing, be aware that the firms that manage your 401k do. And if you are invested in index funds, understand that this sort of thing is the cost of your rock-bottom management fee.
So, while Biden can claim that Democrats are not pushing up gas prices, his ideology is pushing up prices via Woke Inc. Woke Inc depends on people believing that this is "free market," when in fact it is really not. It is using shareholder power to coerce companies into making poor corporate decisions, by shareholders who really do not bear the cost of these decisions. At a minimum, there are questions regarding the fiduciary responsibility of these investors.
If investors were fully aware of what these firms are doing, they probably wouldn't support it.
And to those who are hoping for a transition to electric vehicles: Taken a look at metal prices lately? These folks don't like mines either.
What happens if I try to raise money? Who stops me?
I would add that Sarah Bloom Raskin wants the Fed to regulate for climate more closely. In other words, the banks could fail a regulatory exam for having too much (i.e. any) exposure to the energy sector.
That is where this is going. And that is why the banks are playing along. Cause the Fed can declare that you have too much energy exposure and limit your ability to grow.
Depends on how much you wanna raise. These banks and money managers have agreed to not lend for this sort of thing. You might be able to find smaller amounts (i.e. 5 and 10 million pieces) here and there, but if you want to raise 250MM for a mine expansion or to pursue a new well, you won't get a bank loan from anyone big enough to lend that kind of money, and you won't be able to syndicate a bond or stock offering.
Interesting thesis, Mr. Nyitray. Should extractive corporations have to pay to clean up the mess they make rather than just degrade the environment for future generations and what would happen to the stock value of those companies if they did?
of course, and environmental remediation is just another operating cost for these companies.
Nonsense, oil prices are set by the subterranean lizard-people pooping it out at the center of the earth. Yes, our cars run on liquid sleestak excrement, this has been proven by "science." Wake up sheeple!
Good one. :)
I forgot who originally gave me this metaphor but it goes a little like this.
The economy is a parade. It’s marching down the streets at a slow pace and things happen within that parade. Prices go up. Prices go down. Valuation changes. All of this happens because the parade is moving.
The president is just some jack ass with a big top hat and a cane who jumps out in front of the parade and, to everyone looking from the outside, it seems like he must be leading it since he’s the person in front. When the parade does something good he takes credit and when the parade goes something bad he blames the parade for not following his lead. Even though it was never actually following his lead in the first place.
Except if he went away that parade would still March on.
7 thumbs up; if you don't like 'em, I'll ad in an 8th one for free.
It's "too" much