That's what happens in a "normal" business when times are tough, crazy and tight. They take their losses and weather through and look forwarded to better times ahead.
There is an oil crises now. The undemocratic Saudi Government can make the big bucks because they own what we need. But the international oil companies? The oil companies are not only NOT making record losses while being jerked around by OPEC, they are now making record profits. Is this what capitalism is supposed to produce? The prices just go up and up with no worry that you still won't buy it. They make historic profits all around. Isn't that monopoly?
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Comments: 40
This is exactly what capitalism is about. You either love it or hate it, depending on your situation. Right now, a great number of the American population is hating it, but would dare say so for fear of being called "socialist."
Capitalism keeps us modern and headed for the future.
Socialism keeps it all working for everybody (or for as many as you can figure out) in the here and now.
One without the other is utterly unsustainable. The tricky part is to have the wisdom to decide when to do what or the other (and how much).
Or so it seems.
And if we can't keep up with refining, maybe we need more refineries (hence, more jobs)???????
Oh but, Peter, they claim they ARE feeling the squeeze. I guess it's just different than the squeeze that non-millionaires feel.
It's just not right.
From your mouth to God's ear!
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I had to laugh (bitterly) yesterday and today hearing the oil company executives defending themselves to Congress as "victims" of supply and demand.
It doesn't seem like Exxon Mobil is much of a "victim" when they posted the largest corporate profit ever last year and another one last quarter.
Just to review, profit is what's left over after you pay all your costs. So... after buying all this oil, shipping it to this country, refining it, sending it to the gas stations and selling it to the consumers, the oil companies still made $36,000,000,000.00 in the last three months
Something's wrong with this picture.
(I'll gloom and doom with you today)
And you also have to remember that the refineries we do have have to make something like 20 or 30 different "blends" of fuel for different areas of the country. That means stopping the line and resetting it and making the next blend then stopping again ect. ect. ect. That make the cost go up also. Yes they do help with pollution.
Why is Exxon making less that 10% profit screwing over the public but Microsoft making a 27% profit doesn't even make a blip on the radar? Hell collage tuition as double in the last five years and again not a blip.
So maybe the reason oil/gas bothers us so much and these other don't is because we see these prices every day and other industries don't rise to the outrage because we only see the prices manybe one or twice a year or once every 18 years.