Five Things We Learned This Week: Back to $30 Oil?

1) People Are Talking About $30 Oil Again
Oil has been wavering around $56 a barrel for months, recovering in 2016 from the plunge that sent crude down to almost $27 in January 2016. OPEC got its members — and some non-members — to cut production through June, and now people are starting to wonder what happens after that. An ABN Amro Bank economist says “prices could easily go back to the low $30s,” which reminds us of Goldman’s startling prediction in September 2015 that oil could go below $20. (It didn’t.)

2) The Next Financial Crisis Might Be Sitting in Your Driveway
Americans love their cars. Swept along by surging consumer optimism, they’ve been racking up debt by splurging on vehicles, especially those swanky SUVs that look great while knocking back gallon after gallon of gasoline. The total amount that Americans have borrowed in auto loans hit a record in the fourth quarter of 2016, and that’s prompting talk of a bubble. Drivers with bad credit are borrowing more than they have since just before the financial crisis of 2008.