What applies to insurrection applies to the illusion of fuel prices. “Not one person in power has yet been held accountable.(@TribeLaw)” There are lags in price changes and there is firm-level opportunism, as well as variations regionally. One person’s windfall can be another’s gouging.
MSM spin even has a kind of “float” when the price of commodities lags relative to the adjustment of supply, especially seasonally. This falls into agendas claiming some increased economic inflation that only reminds us that concentrated corporate power makes inflation worse.
Some U.S. lawmakers are seizing on the energy price surge to revive long-standing legislation that would subject the OPEC oil cartel to the same antitrust laws used more than century ago to break up Standard Oil’s monopoly.
The “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act” -- known as NOPEC -- would allow the U.S. government to sue members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for manipulating the energy market, potentially seeking billions of dollars in reparations.
The legislation faces difficult odds amid concerns about diplomatic fallout that has led the State Department to oppose it in the past. But the House Judiciary Committee did approve the latest iteration by a voice vote in April. A Senate version has attracted sponsors from across the political spectrum, from Iowa’s conservative Republican Chuck Grassley to Vermont’s liberal Democrat Patrick Leahy. No floor votes have been scheduled.
“We’ve been talking to a number of members about it,” Leahy said in an interview Wednesday. He said he intended to discuss the legislation in a floor speech.
While OPEC hasn’t set prices since the 1980s, its members periodically agree to boost or cut production. The legislation could have widespread consequences.
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4. What would be the possible repercussions for the oil market?
- Makan Delrahim, Trump’s antitrust chief, told a Senate hearing in December 2018 that NOPEC “could very well lower the price ultimately to the consumer.” But in the short-term, passage could potentially boost prices, especially if fears of retaliatory action escalated.