Congratulations to James Governor and Tom Raftery on Greenmonk. I look forward to technology products and applications of technology they catalog - to showcase on my innovation New Florence blog.
But I am agitated by his suggestion that oil will be $ 200 a barrel by year end. Our economy is in deep trouble with prices today. We can barely absorb a $ 30 increase in 60 days. Can you imagine another $ 70?
My day job is to help clients beat down unreasonable technology pricing. I am besides myself that this administration has done little to help manage the oil price increase -- through our strategic reserve, through managing the dollar and commodity market speculation, through our "friends" in the Middle East. We have been rudderless. If there had been a terrorist incident we would have been all over it. And even that would not have caused a $ 30 increase so fast.
I am all for innovation. But there is enough incentive even at $ 100 a barrel. And at $ 200 - may be in 7-10 years. At $ 200 by end of year the economy will not sustain much. Not even innovation..
But I am agitated by his suggestion that oil will be $ 200 a barrel by year end. Our economy is in deep trouble with prices today. We can barely absorb a $ 30 increase in 60 days. Can you imagine another $ 70?
My day job is to help clients beat down unreasonable technology pricing. I am besides myself that this administration has done little to help manage the oil price increase -- through our strategic reserve, through managing the dollar and commodity market speculation, through our "friends" in the Middle East. We have been rudderless. If there had been a terrorist incident we would have been all over it. And even that would not have caused a $ 30 increase so fast.
I am all for innovation. But there is enough incentive even at $ 100 a barrel. And at $ 200 - may be in 7-10 years. At $ 200 by end of year the economy will not sustain much. Not even innovation..
Hey Vinnie, thanks for the good wishes.
On the oil front, the $200 per barrel is not my suggestion, it was Goldman Sachs who predicted it.
In my post I was merely saying (not clearly enough, obviously) that we need to get off the carbon economy. One of the things which has stifled this to date has been the low price of oil.
The higher the price of oil, the greater the incentive to find non-polluting alternatives.
Posted by: Tom Raftery | May 25, 2008 at 05:51 PM
$200 oil is a scare just like Y2K was, it only justifies further increases which seem like a steal when compared with that artificial price point.
with real estate speculation waning, oil contracts became the new instrument du jour. nobody knows what the inflection point is but whoever wins the bet will become rich overnight.
Posted by: GM | May 26, 2008 at 09:38 AM
Tom, if $ 200 oil by end of year destroys the mainstream economy and it surely would - any victory from any green innovations would not find any real market for years...
GM - hope you are right. Like with Y2K though we need to get on a war footing (I mean an economic one) to make sure it does not happen.
Posted by: vinnie mirchandani | May 26, 2008 at 10:25 AM