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economy
what exactly is going on with oil? why is the price going up? are we running out? (sorry i live under a rock) and is that why the american dollar is losing its value? what countries are slowly rising to the top?
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Well I do agree with a lot of the answer below, but I wanted to add a few things.
First off, the global oil supply is dwindling. To my knowledge (and admitedly I am not an expert) the amount of oil that the US might pump out of restricted areas will only somewhat postpone the inevitable. Within the next 100 years many of the world's top oil producing nations will have depleted their supply. The amounts produced in the middle east should be no match for what one might drill out of the protected areas.
Check out this link
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
Scroll to the table that shows reserve life and compare how many more barrels of oil are pumped out of Saudi Arabia compared to the US (its more than tenfold).
Not to say that new drilling wont affect the price. However the high prices should be here to stay, and within the next decades will probably get worse. Definately time to look towards alternative energy sources.
Now as far as currency issues are concerned, I must say I always found that to be quite a headache back in university. As far as I understand (and keeping it ludricrously simple), the weakened dollar is a symptom of, amongst other things, a weakened economy with a significant current account deficit. The latter involves a number of things including the country's exports vs imports (which in this case are disbalanced towards imports). Here is another link if you want to learn more.
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
As for which countries are rising to the top, well that can be a rather complex question. Certainly Asia has seen a lot of growth in the last years. Particularly China and India have shown some of the most dramatic development with their cheap and highly skilled work force (thats the main reason we outsource so much to them). Part of the reason that the world oil supply seems even lower is because these countries are beginning to demand it on par with the developed world. And their populations are very, very high.
Oil producing nations are also seeing record profits with today's prices. However, what makes this question tricky is that growth is relative. Economists are obsessed with growth and you will constantly hear statements like "Romania has had a 6% GDP growth". But this often does not tell you how far they still have to go (6% of what?).
Anyhow, many Asian countries (particularly China and India, also Singapore as mentioned below, but also lesser known places like Vietnam), and many Eastern European nations have experienced a lot of growth in the last years. Latin American destinations like Brazil are also being perceived as attractive locations for outsourcers and investors, and this promotes economic growth.
Hope this helps, even if it is a little muddled.
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Oil prices are going up because there is such a high demand for it. It works with the supply/demand principle a bit. When the demand goes up, the supply goes down [in terms of gas it doesn't go down by much when a few people buy gas], and therefore the price goes up.
The media wants you to think we're running out, but we have a lot of gas here in America, it's just in National Parks where they can't really just take it. There's a lot in Alaska, too.
That has a lot to do with the weakening of the dollar. But I'm not an economist and I don't know all the reasons.
I am pretty sure that Singapore is slowly rising to the top, and I'm sure there are others.
--Jack
(16/m)
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