$100 a Barrel...

Posted By: Dr. Frugal in Economics on 10/01/2007 at 05:27:11

Over the weekend I read an interesting article in the WSJ discussing how the economy could survive in a time (soon) where oil cost over $100 a barrel.

Still, some fear the impact of $100-a-barrel oil would be too powerful for the U.S. to overcome. "If we aren't already headed for a recession, it could push us in that direction," says Bill Zollars, chairman and chief executive officer of YRC Worldwide Inc., a large trucking company based in Overland Park, Kan. "With a very fragile economy like we have now, this could be another burden for the consumer and the business community."

Are we really headed into a recession· Really· Seriously· Maybe this is why I'm not an economist but I see it like this: Houses cost less, oil costs more. First, regarding houses, are houses costing less or are they costing right· Prices have been SO inflated recently that regardless of the subprime fiasco, I think houses are where they should be. I should be able to buy a $200,000 house in the Chicago suburbs for $250,000, not for $660,000. I think the housing marketing simple getting itself back to normal, not completely tanking.

As for oil, while an increase in price certainly affects the cost of everything, I think people are screaming gloom and doom for no reason--I simply don't think the market is so weak that some added cost will pull it into a recession.

How about someone reports on some good news for a change· Surely it's out there somewhere.