June 3, 2008 - I made a trip down to Sun City Center today for work. I got to my meeting a few minutes before planned, so I stopped in Bealls and picked up some pants and shorts to replace the ones I have that are wearing out. The meeting went great, there should be a big opportunity there. I headed home, stopping at work on the way to drop some stuff off, and then Ellie and I hit the gym. Not much else happened today, so I am going to share my latest conspiracy theory. This one is about the price of oil and government. What conspiracy theory wouldn't have the government in it? Here's what I see...governments at all levels see that the Iraq war is drawing to a close, meaning less economic boom is going to help out economic growth (i.e. taxes, the things that pay government salaries). At the same time, housing prices are dropping like a rock, again cutting down on taxes brought in from the past decade of wonderful growth. So how else can the government keep taxes rolling in to protect their jobs and incomes? They set up a scheme to artificially inflate the price of oil, a commodity traded on the market. Since it is an inelastic good, where demand doesn't greatly diminish with increased price, they realize that they can keep helping fuel the increase in prices, and it doesn't stand much chance of dropping down afterward. But oil flows through every part of the economy, meaning that eventually increased oil prices will cause the price of everything to go up. As prices go up, employers will be forced to increase pay, which gives people more money to spend on houses, helping bring housing prices back up. In the meantime, taxable income as well as spending increase with the increase in prices of everything, thus guaranteeing that government gets to continue down the path they have been on for many years.