Merry Christmas Economy - Hope you Liked Your Stimulating

It is especially at this time of year that we must think about the less fortunate CEOs of financial companies like AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; auto companies Chrysler, Ford and GM. May they be blessed with 100's of billions in stimulus packages without terms. And may CEO bonuses be just as big so as to feed a poor starving nation somewhere in Africa.

The good people of the western world have just went beyond normal need to feed the economic beast by way of Christmas 'n' everything. May our system of economics continue to offer hope to believers and non-believers alike that the system is fair, decent, and oh so rewarding.

May justice be bestowed on investment guru Bernard Madoff who is charged with defrauding the public of $50 billion, and may the selfish starving people of Congo and Somalia stop their begging for food and help out mega-rich industries of the world, somehow.

Yes, may the world unite as one to support the one true way that works, and let us bail out together, the industries that are the symbols of success and virtue in the world, so that once again the world will be as it should. Blessings to both the needy, the greedy, the conniving, and the 'just surviving' of the world.

When the price of oil goes down businesses get their stimulus package

Just filled up the car, and saved $25 compared to a July fill-up costing $62. Now if rent, milk, and many other products came down in price it would seem fair. The cost of rising fuel gets passed on to consumers. This year's rent increase was rationalized by higher oil prices, but it would be quite the surprise to see something like rent come down as oil prices fall. Makes one wonder how many companies/businesses already have gotten their stimulus packages because of price mark-ups which stayed the same despite lower transportation costs for example. The reports earlier this year that $100-a barrel oil is here to stay seemed pretty convincing at the time, and it was a nice justification for anyone to boost product prices (hello Newfoundland Power). If this consumer saved $25 on 46 litres of gas, then transport vehicles and other modes of transport that rely on the same cheaper fuel, must be saving proportionally a similar amount.

Here is a summary of Newfoundland & Labrador gas prices for the last 20 years.