Bernanke On Oil Price Shocks

Monetary Policy And The Effects Of Oil Price Shocks

By Dr. Ben Bernanke

"...an important part of the effect of oil price shocks on the economy results not from the change in oil prices, per se, but from the resulting tightening of monetary policy.”

Comments

[Smack MacDougal]

Thanks for the post, DB.

Bernanke and his pals amuse me. Claiming that something slightly under 20% isn't significant brings forth much chuckling.

[john]

Wall Street Journal: Traders Try to Manipulate Prices in Multi-Trillion Dollar Oil Market

http://www.imackgroup.com/mathematics/1914822-wall-street-journal-traders-try-to-game-prices-in-multi-trillion-dollar-oil-market/

[snip]

LONDON—The European Union says it is searching for evidence that oil traders manipulate prices. If oil trader Halis Bektas is correct, it shouldn't be hard to find.

Mr. Bektas describes one strategy he has used himself: Offer to sell a small amount at a loss to drive down published oil prices, then snap up shiploads at the lower price.

The European Union is investigating whether oil traders manipulate the benchmarks posted daily by oil index publisher Platts in order to affect energy prices. WSJ's Jenny Gross reports...


...The European Union is investigating manipulation of benchmarks as part of a probe into whether energy traders skew prices of oil and other fuels for their own financial benefit. EU investigators in May conducted unannounced inspections of oil giants BP BP.LN +0.48%PLC, Royal Dutch Shell RDSB.LN +0.60%PLC and Statoil SA, STL.OS +0.08%as well as Platts, looking for evidence of benchmark manipulation going back as far as 2002. The companies have said they are cooperating with the investigations.

The probe comes as regulatory concern grows around the world about important market benchmarks set by unregulated entities in opaque fashion. A scandal involving the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, an important interest-rate benchmark, has ensnared at least three banks. Regulators in the U.S. also are investigating the way benchmarks are set for a form of derivatives called interest-rate swaps.