THE BUSH PUSH ON OIL PRICE INCREASES 5: Inadequate & ineffectual policies & measures

Adam Kritzer at CurrencyTrading.net has written an article on “8 Ways the Bush Administration Has Caused the Oil Price Boom.”

While Venezuela, one of the US sources, can increase supply, Adam Kritzer reports that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite ideological disagreements with President Bush, has offered to dialog but has been repeatedly rebuffed. Kritzer also cites the Wall Street Journal which reported Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson chiding President Bush for not doing more to increase production at home. With regard to Alternative Energy, “the numbers indicate that funding has hardly budged over the duration of his presidency . . . President Bush has thrown his support behind ethanol, which, if 2007 was any indication, probably can’t be counted on to lower fuel prices. Not to mention, the fact that its purported efficiency and environmental benefits are dubious and that it is contributing to rising food prices“.

Kritzer bemoans the fact that the Bush admnistration has done little to mitigate demand for oil products and to promote Fuel Economy. He also points out the Bush administration’s denial of the effect of speculation on the increase in oil prices: The Bush Administration is known for its coziness with big business. Its economic policy team is dominated by former executives in the financial sector, such as Henry Paulson . . . [who] has firmly ruled out the possibility that excessive speculation has played a significant role.

Is it coincidence or has the Bush administration really contributed to the oil price boom?

images from Microsoft Clipart reconstructed by Ren Garcia