Excessive Spending - What Always Works

Oil prices continue to remain high despite slowing consumption and rising interest rates in the U.S.

In previous posts, I have voiced the opinion that the Fed's action to fight oil-price based inflation with higher interest rates will slow the U.S. economy... which has always worked..., but not much else. The latest data showing China's demand for oil rising almost 11% over prior year is an example of how forces outside of the Federal Reserve's control are nullifying the global effect of U.S. interest rates and driving the U.S. economy toward another downturn... in areas other than where recession level unemployment already exists.

Meanwhile, actions that could lead to less reliance on oil are being ignored or fought:

• Building new nuclear power facilities
• Developing non-fossil fuel alternatives that can be generated from power supplied by nuclear energy:
• Hydrogen gas fuels
• Battery-only vehicles
• Fuel cells

I learned a long time ago in business not to leave key decisions to finance staff. They tend to focus too tightly on the immediate rather than the long term and that can and does lead to really bad strategic decisions.