Overshadowed by the pandemic, an oil production and price war waged between the Saudi Arabian-led OPEC, Russia, the U.S. and other nations has landed a body blow upon the already weakened global economy. With billions worldwide now sheltering in place, oil usage has dropped by over 30%. But production hasn’t. The massive oversupply has crashed market prices lower than at any point in almost 20 years. To stop the bleeding, OPEC and other producers as well as the G20 have seemingly come to an historic deal that will slash global production across the boards. But the damage to the underlying fossil-fuel based economy means that Corona’s economic wreckage will ripple out just as we start to emerge into a brave new social-distance demanding world. L. Michael Buchsbaum examines the origins and implications of the Corona oil crash.
All posts tagged: market mechanism
Carbon price: necessary, but not sufficient
In the run-up to the EU elections, German Environmental Minister Svenja Schulze has now said that she supports French President Macron’s climate plan, including a floor price for carbon. And Chancellor Merkel has now joined her in calling for “carbon net neutrality” by 2050. But the market can’t fix everything, says Craig Morris.