"EIGHT WEEKS TO EMPTY SHELVES. SIXTY DAYS TO FAMINE." EVERYBODY INSULT THE OP!

[Bluetus]

41. A bunch of pretty lame economic arguments here.

Let's talk some facts:

1) The US is a net exporter of oil, especially refined oil products.

2) Almost all of our oil stocks and all of our refining capacity is controlled by for-profit corporations

3) Much of this oil supply comes from land ostensibly owned by "the people", but politicians have auctioned it off to multinational Petro companies on the cheap.

4) These selfsame companies make the CHOICE to take OUR oil and sell it in global markets where they can make a higher profit.

In other words, the only "shortage" Americans have is the direct result of these private companies deciding to serve other countries with OUR oil. Likewise, they pollute OUR environment and send the refined output to other countries, leaving us with nothing but pollution.

This is a market-driven, profit-driven operation. There is plenty of supply here, but only if Americans are willing to pay top dollar for it.

If we want to say that this is a potential (and emerging) economic calamity globally, I wouldn't argue with that. But to say that we are going to "run out" of Diesel and have "empty shelves" is a totally ignorant position. That isn't how market economics work. If we are willing to pay $12/gal for Diesel, the shelves will have plenty of goods, but they will cost twice as much.

IOW, this is not about empty shelves as much as it is about hyper-inflation. Unfortunately, that ends up in the same place. The most affluent will get through it, but there will be plenty of suffering (and crime) as the less affluent fight to survive.

This is a potential dystopian hellscape ahead. I am not ready to predict that is a certainty, but I'd say it is likely to get much worse before it gets better.