The U.S. oil sector had its worst stretch under Ronald Reagan. So substantially did prices fall during his presidency that even his Vice President (George H.W. Bush) made the rather puzzling suggestion that OPEC should be prodded to restrain oil prices from further decline.
When markets are untouched by the powers that be, the unpredictable often follows. Reagan de-controlled gasoline prices in one of his first official acts as president, and the response was that the former actor was naïve. Ted Kennedy leaned on Democrats to oppose Reagan given his view that gasoline prices sans governmental restraints would rise above $2 gallon (yes, how quaint). Then Massachusetts congressman (now U.S. Senator) Ed Markey described decontrol as something “worse than the disease of oil addiction.”
Read Full Article »
