ABSTRACT
Oil means power electrical power, transport power and political power. It needs no explaining that higher prices in the international crude oil markets negatively affect the economies of oil-consuming nations from enterprises to households. In a free market the price of any commodity can go up or down. One of the positive side-effects of power generation is that it provides a good snapshot of the macro-economy. This is one, but only one, of the reasons why the slack in investments should be taken seriously. According to some opinions, capital markets are jointly responsible for the current disparity between energy supply and demand. Their failure has been a global misallocation of capital. As far as the macro-economy is concerned, they have channelled too much money into real estate and too little into energy. Modern markets are much more complex, esoteric and speculative than ever before. Oil no longer means oil in the classical sense of the term.
