(What’s Left of) Our Economy: It’s No Longer “That Seventies Show” for the U.S. and Oil
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
So many reasons to be thankful that the 1970s are over! No more disco! No more shag haircuts! No more leisure suits! No more lousy economy!
And speaking of which – although it could easily be forgotten amid all the oil gloom-mongering triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran – the 1970s are over in terms of America’s energy situation. Let us count the major ways.
1, Whereas during the 1970s, the nation ran a big oil trade deficit, that shortfall began falling dramatically starting in the early 2000s. Indeed, since 2020, the United States has been a net oil exporter. (See here.)
That’s because since 2018, it’s become the world’s biggest oil producer. Moreover, it’s also now one of the biggest oil exporters.
That’s not to say that the United States no longer imports any oil. As explained by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an industry association, U.S. refineries “run on many different types of crude oil, some of which we don’t produce here or can’t economically transport.” But more than two-thirds of those imports come from Canada and Mexico, and consequently, 88 percent of the crude in U.S. refineries comes from North America – not the Persian Gulf.
Largely as a result, nation-wide gasoline pump prices are still well below the levels they hit during peak Biden-flation in 2022.
2. Moreover, the U.S. economy has become much less oil intensive. As this U.S. Department of Energy Chartchart makes clear, even though growth has been substantial since 2007, total national use of petroleum products has actually fallen since then.
In fact, the economy’s fossil fuels intensivity is way down for all fossil fuels, and for gasoline, by fully 70 percent.
3. The impact on individual consumers has been substantial. As reported by Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal, “The share of households’ consumption of energy, including electricity, natural gas and gasoline, fell from 5.7% in 2007 to 3.7% last year.
4. Finally, for now, the U.S. government also has the option of easing oil prices via releases from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was established at the end of 1975 to deal with the kinds of oil crises that afflicted the decade.
As of early March, it contained just over 415 million barrels of oil. That amount could meet 20 days of total U.S. consumption all by itself – in other words, without any domestic production.
None of the above means that the nation or the Trump administration is home free regarding the war and oil and oil prices. As everyone should know by now, the course of war is never very predictable, and much could still go wrong. And even a longer-than-expected war – let alone much further disruption in tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz – would maintain upward pressure on oil prices.
Further, at least politically speaking, relatively high gasoline prices in particular will undermine Republicans’ chances in the upcoming midterm elections, since before the fighting broke out, Americans were already very unhappy with living costs and because prices at the pump in particular are one of the living costs that most affect the public’s inflation perceptions. (See, …
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
So many reasons to be thankful that the 1970s are over! No more disco! No more shag haircuts! No more leisure suits! No more lousy economy!
And speaking of which – although it could easily be forgotten amid all the oil gloom-mongering triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran – the 1970s are over in terms of America’s energy situation. Let us count the major ways.
1, Whereas during the 1970s, the nation ran a big oil trade deficit, that shortfall began falling dramatically starting in the early 2000s. Indeed, since 2020, the United States has been a net oil exporter. (See here.)
That’s because since 2018, it’s become the world’s biggest oil producer. Moreover, it’s also now one of the biggest oil exporters.
That’s not to say that the United States no longer imports any oil. As explained by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an industry association, U.S. refineries “run on many different types of crude oil, some of which we don’t produce here or can’t economically transport.” But more than two-thirds of those imports come from Canada and Mexico, and consequently, 88 percent of the crude in U.S. refineries comes from North America – not the Persian Gulf.
Largely as a result, nation-wide gasoline pump prices are still well below the levels they hit during peak Biden-flation in 2022.
2. Moreover, the U.S. economy has become much less oil intensive. As this U.S. Department of Energy Chartchart makes clear, even though growth has been substantial since 2007, total national use of petroleum products has actually fallen since then.
In fact, the economy’s fossil fuels intensivity is way down for all fossil fuels, and for gasoline, by fully 70 percent.
3. The impact on individual consumers has been substantial. As reported by Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal, “The share of households’ consumption of energy, including electricity, natural gas and gasoline, fell from 5.7% in 2007 to 3.7% last year.
4. Finally, for now, the U.S. government also has the option of easing oil prices via releases from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was established at the end of 1975 to deal with the kinds of oil crises that afflicted the decade.
As of early March, it contained just over 415 million barrels of oil. That amount could meet 20 days of total U.S. consumption all by itself – in other words, without any domestic production.
None of the above means that the nation or the Trump administration is home free regarding the war and oil and oil prices. As everyone should know by now, the course of war is never very predictable, and much could still go wrong. And even a longer-than-expected war – let alone much further disruption in tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz – would maintain upward pressure on oil prices.
Further, at least politically speaking, relatively high gasoline prices in particular will undermine Republicans’ chances in the upcoming midterm elections, since before the fighting broke out, Americans were already very unhappy with living costs and because prices at the pump in particular are one of the living costs that most affect the public’s inflation perceptions. (See, …
(What’s Left of) Our Economy: It’s No Longer “That Seventies Show” for the U.S. and Oil
Transparency shouldn't be controversial.
So many reasons to be thankful that the 1970s are over! No more disco! No more shag haircuts! No more leisure suits! No more lousy economy!
And speaking of which – although it could easily be forgotten amid all the oil gloom-mongering triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran – the 1970s are over in terms of America’s energy situation. Let us count the major ways.
1, Whereas during the 1970s, the nation ran a big oil trade deficit, that shortfall began falling dramatically starting in the early 2000s. Indeed, since 2020, the United States has been a net oil exporter. (See here.)
That’s because since 2018, it’s become the world’s biggest oil producer. Moreover, it’s also now one of the biggest oil exporters.
That’s not to say that the United States no longer imports any oil. As explained by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an industry association, U.S. refineries “run on many different types of crude oil, some of which we don’t produce here or can’t economically transport.” But more than two-thirds of those imports come from Canada and Mexico, and consequently, 88 percent of the crude in U.S. refineries comes from North America – not the Persian Gulf.
Largely as a result, nation-wide gasoline pump prices are still well below the levels they hit during peak Biden-flation in 2022.
2. Moreover, the U.S. economy has become much less oil intensive. As this U.S. Department of Energy Chartchart makes clear, even though growth has been substantial since 2007, total national use of petroleum products has actually fallen since then.
In fact, the economy’s fossil fuels intensivity is way down for all fossil fuels, and for gasoline, by fully 70 percent.
3. The impact on individual consumers has been substantial. As reported by Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal, “The share of households’ consumption of energy, including electricity, natural gas and gasoline, fell from 5.7% in 2007 to 3.7% last year.
4. Finally, for now, the U.S. government also has the option of easing oil prices via releases from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was established at the end of 1975 to deal with the kinds of oil crises that afflicted the decade.
As of early March, it contained just over 415 million barrels of oil. That amount could meet 20 days of total U.S. consumption all by itself – in other words, without any domestic production.
None of the above means that the nation or the Trump administration is home free regarding the war and oil and oil prices. As everyone should know by now, the course of war is never very predictable, and much could still go wrong. And even a longer-than-expected war – let alone much further disruption in tanker transits through the Strait of Hormuz – would maintain upward pressure on oil prices.
Further, at least politically speaking, relatively high gasoline prices in particular will undermine Republicans’ chances in the upcoming midterm elections, since before the fighting broke out, Americans were already very unhappy with living costs and because prices at the pump in particular are one of the living costs that most affect the public’s inflation perceptions. (See, …
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