Yet again, oil prices broke record highs recently, and who benefits? A McKinsey report pointed to the fact that oil-exporting nations would pump $382 billion a year into financial markets around the globe, that's over $1 billion a day; but wait, that's if oil were traded at $50 a barrel, not at the recently traded $110. Potentially, at the real price level the total injected in financial markets would be greater than the GDP of several emerging economies.
So at the same time that financial markets are enjoying the influx of capital and the higher liquidity it creates, could there be a danger for a bubble burst if oil prices dramatically and suddenly decreased given the current economic woes and enviromental concerns? Would a contemporary and "green" Shakespeare bolster: Frailty thy name is oil?
So are oil prices heading toward $150 or downward to $50? Oil price volatility is the subejct of a new World Bank forum that tries to answer this and other questions.
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