Opinion | War-Caused Oil Price Spikes Don't Help the U.S. Economy
- Ivory tower elites 'shocked' to learn costly gas = costlier everything else
- Concentrated oil profits vs. diffuse consumer pain—math too hard for Ivy League?
- Study is actually just a press release for 'war makes Saudi princes richer' theory
- Meanwhile, corner gas station owner knew this since 1973—no PhD required
- Next week: Harvard study reveals eating food gives you calories
Brief Summary
Another day, another academic paper that takes 47 pages to rediscover that when oil prices spike, the economy sneezes and your wallet catches pneumonia. These Northwestern and Harvard brainiacs apparently think the oil industry's fat profit margins somehow neutralize the pain of seven-dollar gas for the rest of us peons. They focus on the 'concentrated benefits' like a drunk staring at a shiny quarter while the house burns down around them. The diffused costs—your grocery bill, your commute, your heating bill—are apparently too subtle for their regression models to grasp. Congratulations, professors: you've just explained inflation to people who've been living it since 2021, but with better footnotes. This 'analysis' isn't a revelation; it's a self-own that makes economists look like they've been hibernating since the Carter era.
Why This Matters
This matters because your daily life is the 'diffused cost' they callously dismiss. Every time oil prices spike—whether from war, speculation, or OPEC's whims—you pay at the pump, at the supermarket, and in your rent. The professors' 'concentrated benefits' go to a handful of oil executives sipping champagne in Houston; your 'diffused costs' are the quiet budget cuts you make to afford the basics. If policymakers buy into this academic nonsense, expect more 'temporary' pain with no relief, because someone's always telling you the economy is 'stronger' while you're feeling weaker. Don't hold your breath for a follow-up study on why eating rocks isn't a viable lunch plan.