, Columnist
Turns Out That Oil Prices Don't Matter
Import costs used to hurt. But these days the U.S. produces so much oil that a boom has a mixed impact, and so does a bust.
Oklahoma enjoyed the high oil prices of yesteryear.
Photographer: Shane Bevel/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Oil is not just the fuel that runs our cars. It’s also the fuel that runs our economies.
Petroleum is a feedstock for plastics and petrochemicals. It provides heat and electricity. And of course, it provides the primary means by which we move all of the goods we produce, and the workers who produce them, and the consumers who consume them. It is a critical member of a class of product that economists call “intermediate goods” -- goods that are used to produce other goods and services.