Abstract
In this article, the writer explains that once the peak point of oil harvesting is reached, economic laws will become painfully evident to even the staunchest defenders of oil use. The writer points out that the supply is literally diminishing, and no amount of politics will be able to create more oil to fulfill the demands that the consumers of the world currently have for energy. Further, the writer notes that alternate supplies of energy in another form are not readily available and therefore, the oil which is available has become increasingly precious to consumers who demand it and are willing to pay a premium amount for the product.

From the Paper
"In terms of economic concepts, peak oil refers to the tipping point when demand begins to exceed supply. Economist Alfred Marshall explained the relationship that supply and demand have with one another rather succinctly when he described the two factors in pricing as separate blades of a scissors in that their intersection was the point of price, and that neither could influence the other without the presence of the second blade. Applied to the oil market, the demand for the product is evident, most of the world depends on fossil fuels for energy; despite the skyrocketing gas prices of recent months, consumers in the United States appear to have a high tolerance for the prices, since demand for oil and gasoline has remained at high levels."

Tags:peak, fuel, demand, gasoline

Abstract
This paper examines the oil price run-up of 2008, its causes and its consequences. Two main theories for the run-up are presented and analyzed. Also considered is OPEC's policy of petroleum supply management. The consequences of the run-up on the global economy are also considered. The paper concludes with solutions to avoiding another oil price run-up in the future, recommending in particular that the influence of OPEC be reduced.

Outline
Introduction
The Run-Up
OPEC and Peak Oil
Impacts on the Economy
Solutions

From the Paper
"There were two main theories for the run-up. One was that it was fueled by demand in India and China. Pundits claimed that while the prices were inflated, a new floor was being created by the run-up, based on rapidly increasing demand from rapidly industrializing states. Others felt the run-up was nothing but a speculative bubble, soon to burst. While the recent decline in prices would indicate that the latter group was right, it is too soon to issue a final verdict. Hugo Chavez has predicted a stable level around $90/barrel, where prices were before the bubble, but others are skeptical. This paper intends to examine the run-up, its causes and its consequences."

Abstract
Discusses embargo of oil exports to the U.S. by Arab members of OPEC as a protest of U.S. support for Israel in 1973. Arab-Israeli War. Differing views of the embargo in Islamic World, Third World and industrialized West. Oil prices. Formation of OPEC. Effectiveness of OPEC. Consequences of the oil embargo.

From the Paper
"1973: The Great Oil Shock

I Introduction
Last spring, as U.S. gasoline prices rose above $2 per gallon, and California braced for a possible summer of brownouts, American politicians and commentators often referred back to the "Energy Crisis" of the 1970s, and television news shows replayed grainy old footage of cars waiting lined up ten or twenty deep at gas station pumps. One generation of Americans were reminded of an event they had perhaps half-forgotten, and another perhaps heard of it for the first time.
In 1973, as a protest of US support for Israel in the 1973..."

Abstract
This paper deals with the question of whether the oil crisis of 1973 alone adequately explains the world recession of the 1970s and 1980s. The paper clearly finds that while the OPEC oil crises contributed to the crisis it was not a major factor. The paper focuses on three important signs that were present before the oil crisis. These three signs: inflation, unemployment, and stagnation are discussed at length. Secondary elements such as the waning of the United State's power in the post-Vietnam war era are also discussed.

From the Paper
"The historian Eric Hobsbawm's assertion that `any historian who puts major change in the configuration of the world economy down to bad luck and avoidable accidents should think again' provides a useful theoretical objection to the contention that the economic crisis years of the late 1970s and early 1980s can be, at its core, wholly attributed to the OPEC oil crisis which occurred in 1973. However the inadequacy of this approach is not wholly theoretical but empirical too. The effects of the oil crisis alone are insufficient to fully account for the recession as it becomes evident that it occurred in conjunction with the decline of the so-called `Golden Age' of the mixed economy, which was accompanied by unemployment, inflation and stagnated investment. This essay thus does not need to challenge the entire significance of the oil crisis to prove that indeed the world economic recession did not `all come down to the oil crisis'."

Tags:unemployment recession OPEC, Golden Age

Abstract
This paper explains that, in the 1980s financial crisis, the Latin American countries especially Mexico could no longer repay their foreign debts, which was caused by excessive and continuous borrowings even at a negative interest rates and the rising cost of commodities and a global recession that was aggravated by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil crisis. Next, the author examines the measures instituted to arrest the collapse, such as the Baker plan, the Brady plan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB). The paper relates how the recent financial crisis is linked to this 1980 financial crisis.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The 1980's Crisis
Background
The Oil Crisis
The Effect of the Oil Crisis
The Debt Burden
The Financial Crisis
The Role of the Fed in the Crisis
August 1982
The Foreign Commerical Banks
The IMF-WB Conditions
The Baker Plan
The Brady Plan
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Latin American countries particularly Mexico are already feeling the brunt of these combined economic setbacks. The global economic slowdown diminished the demand of their exports thus decreasing their capacity to pay their loans. More importantly, the interest payments on their loans rose dramatically due to the increased interest rate imposed by the Fed to arrest the inflation. This measure took a toll on the economies of Latin American countries because of their heavy dependence on external loans.
"In August of 1982, Mexico, through its Finance Minister, Jesus Lava Hertzog declared that it cannot bear the crisis anymore and declared that it cannot pay its debt and asked for a 90 days moratorium. When he made this announcement, Mexico's debt already exceeded $80 billion and "almost 30 percent of this debt was due within one yea. He also requested a new loan to repay its existing loans and renegotiated for the due dates of their loans. This declaration of default on loans by Mexico precipitated a global financial crisis as other countries which has the same balance of payments problem like Mexico also declared its inability to pay its loan. Instead of a moratorium, Mexico's loans became immediately due."

Tags:borrowings industrialization, federal reserve, market orientation, insolvency

From the Paper
"Different epochs of human history have been designated by the key material in use at the time. The stone age, the age of bronze, the age of iron all come readily to mind. In the same spirit, our time could be called the age of oil. Petroleum products and petroleum-produced energy are essential to virtually every aspect of our daily life, from workers' commute to the fabrics and cosmetics that adorn the persons in every city of the world. Although the share of the other parts of the world is projected to increase in the near future, the major oil markets in the world remain the industrialized nations of Western Europe, East Asia, and North America.1 However, the major, readily accessible oil reserves are for the most part located in the undeveloped parts of the world.2 The largest oil reserves are in the Middle East.3 This relationship between the undeveloped ... "

Abstract
This paper cites the fact that Ashland Oil Inc. at the beginning of this decade recognized that it had a management crisis and that it needed to gain control of it in order to cope with the unforeseen shifts in the oil business. It shows that in 1991, the company made a number of decisions regarding how to prepare for a crisis, after it had faced a crisis with a major oil spill in 1988 and had not handled the situation as well as it might.

From the Paper
"The public sees long line at the gas pump and notes the rising costs of oil and may believe that the oil companies are making money hand over fist and doing so with relatively little effort. In fact, though, whether an oil company can weather the ups and downs of the oil business depends on the management of the company. Ashland Oil Inc. at the beginning of this decade recognized that it had a management crisis and that it needed to gain control of it in order to cope with the unforeseen shifts in the oil business. Americans have been aware of an oil crisis since the 1970s, when the first oil crisis brought higher prices and long lines and made Americans more aware than ever before of their dependence on foreign sources for their oil and energy needs."

Tags:crisis, management, case

Abstract
The paper discusses how too few resources, together with over-consumption, have led to the possibility of an energy crisis, political problems and economic volatility. The paper then considers the solution and contends that this involves finding more domestic oil and reducing oil consumption.

From the Paper
"From the plastic utensils we use to eat at picnics and company parties to the cars we drive for work and for pleasure to the heat that warms our homes in cold winter months, oil runs the United States of America. But while it may run the United States, it certainly is not cultivated in this country in great abundance. In fact, the United States uses about 25 percent of the world's oil, but contains only three percent of the world's oil reserves (Reducing U.S. Oil Dependence). Thus, the United States is dependant on other countries for one of its most valuable resources. Because many of these countries are in the Middle East, an area known for its wars and volatility, some have been significantly worried about the United State's dependence on foreign oil. The September 11th attacks have made this painfully clear. Having oil interests in Middle Eastern countries could be detrimental to the United States in that war and violence could suddenly make those resources unavailable."

Tags:energy, crisis, consumption, environment, security

Abstract
This paper examines the impact of oil prices and the economic effects that occur directly following rising oil prices. The paper suggests that tapping large oil resources in Canada will help decrease the cost of crude oil but warns that the voracious appetite of the Chinese economy for fuel may not yet have peaked. The paper points out that regardless of the direction of oil prices it is clear that the United States is in the unenviable position of being forced to find an alternative fuel source for the future. In conclusion, the paper shows that as the leader of the global economy, American will bear the bulk of the costs associated with this effort but will hopefully reap the majority of the rewards and until that time, oil prices will continue to have a significant impact on the US economy.

Outline:
Rising Oil Prices Hurt the Consumer in a Number of Ways
The Resilient American Economy
Peaked or Transitioning Higher

From the Paper
"Just four years later, Huber's article seems less accurate than it might have been viewed at the time it was written and yet, many of the indications presented in the article can be reasonably said to have survived the economic tumult that rising oil prices have caused in the US. It is, however, difficult to assess how much of an impact the price of oil is responsible for causing to various aspects of the economy. To be sure, oil price has a measurable impact, but at what point does the terrorist attack of 2001, the corporate scandals of 2002 and the Iraq war of 2003 become simply economic footnotes rather than an influencing factor on the buying power of the American public. After all, the price of oil does not exist in an economic vacuum and yet there are some indicators that can be tied directly to the price of oil."

Tags:investor, crisis, money, buying, power, Iraq

Abstract
Reasons for international debt are discussed with examples brought from Mexico and Brazil, oil exporters and oil importers; debt rescheduling; debt relief and first-world aid; the International Monetary Fund and the affect the IMF has had on poor countries. The two major methods of international reserve creation: the mining of gold and the acquisition of reserves in the form of key currencies are discussed along with their problems. Recent structural adjustment and debt relief are also examined, as well as the inability of poorer countries to pay their scheduled debt service and the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and its problems. This leads to a discussion of macro-economic adjustment.

From the Paper
"The current climate of recession has highlighted the reasons for raising the calls for poor country debt relief. It is difficult to believe claims made by creditors that they cannot afford further debt relief. Canceling effectively unpayable debts owed by the poorest countries may turn out to be a sensible policy for all creditors. As well as the strong moral argument for debt relief, there could be sound financial grounds for doing so to stimulate the global economy and promote growth."

Tags:third-world, economy, nation, financial, crisis, Mexico, Brazil, loan, funds, depreciation, relief, International, Monetary, Fund, macro-economic, adjustment