Author: Raymond J. Learsy
Publisher: iUniverse, 318 pages
Book Review by Paiso Jamakar
This book is a collection of contributions to the Huffington Post from the start of 2006 to the end of 2010 by Raymond J. Learsy, who writes from personal experience and knowledge of commodity trading gathered over the course of a quarter century.
I respect writers who get their facts from, and base their opinions on first-hand familiarity with particular subjects and sources, rather than those who gather data and comments from second-hand sources, which are plentifully available in today’s Internet-driven information world.
Learsy has also authored a previous book on this subject: “Over a Barrel: Breaking Oil’s Grip on Our Future.”
One of the merits of “Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption from 2006 to 2010” is that it is authoritative. The other merit of this book is that Raymond J. Learsy provides valuable insight (something so lacking in the media these days) into the factors that lead to dramatic changes in the price of oil and gasoline, commodities that affect our daily lives and impact on our global economy.
The third merit is that his chronologically-organized commentaries – within each topic in the book – provide real-time response to events just as they were happening or had happened, helping us get a historical perspective on this important subject.
The first of those events Learsy writes about was on January 06, 2006:
“Vice President Dick Cheney is about to visit Saudi Arabia, where he will be meeting King Abdullah. Beware! No hand-holding please.”
“The last time Abdullah’s hand was held was during his April 25, 2005 visit with President George W. Bush at the Crawford (Texas) Ranch. Then – as now – oil prices and supply were a topic of discussion. At the time of the Crawford barbecue, the price of oil hovered around $48 a barrel, near to and breaching levels that had never before achieved in the oil market – and nearly 50 percent above prices from the year before.”
“Abdullah left Texas reassured with little concern that the already egregious price of oil had reached the limits of American tolerance. Within four months of the visit, the price of oil continued its aggressive spiral upward, reaching $65 a barrel – this before Katrina’s sweep – a staggering increase of some 35 percent.”
“Prices have hovered around these levels since the summer of 2005, costing Americans, who consume more than twenty million barrels of oil a day, an additional $340 million in increased daily disbursements to OPEC and to the bottom line of the oil industry.”
I have presented this long quote above to emphasize the direct economic impact that the price of oil has on consumers in the United States and around the world based on decisions made by the OPEC countries that supply 40 percent of the world’s oil.
Learsy points out that oil, a precious commodity, not only affects individuals but also drives numerous businesses industries the world over and affects the economic well-being of nations. He says that countries that have plenty of oil – many in the Middle East – have influenced global politics for centuries and high oil-consuming nations like the United States depend on it very heavily to keep its economy going.
The issue of manipulation of prices by the oil industry has not been thoroughly written about in the press and broadcast on electronic media, and the public has not gotten the truth and circumstances on why the price of oil goes up or down, Learsy points out.
Learsy fills that important void – not only of information, but also expert insight – with this eye-opening book. He also corrects the misinformation that has been spread.
“These essays chronicle the overall impact of continuous and willful disinformation perpetuated by the oil and finance industry PR ‘machine’ and by the disturbing silence of the press…Oil and Finance: The Epic Corruption’s arguments go against the ‘conventional wisdom’ that has brought the misinformed public to a state of helplessness against the wills of the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries and oil interests,” writes Learsy.
Bank holding companies play a big part in influencing the price of oil, and benefit greatly from their speculative financing and trading activities. The US government has not challenged this, asserts Learsy.
I believe no member of the mass media has looked broadly or deeply enough into the oil-price speculation and manipulation issue to find solid-enough evidence of specific guilty parties and their actions, sufficient to print or broadcast. Or, if a media organization has such evidence, there are probably some strong reasons to withhold that information. In any case, I personally do not know enough to write a valid comment on this issue.
But Learsy writes: “It is this blatant lack of information that permeates our misunderstanding of how oil prices are determined…to my view, this is one of the greatest con games of all time, and a levy that American consumers are made to pay each day out of their pocketbooks.”
To get a clear picture on the who, what, when, where, why and how of oil price manipulation, and what oil-consuming countries can do to reduce oil consumption, get this book and get enlightened on this important subject.
