The Problem with Banning Oil Speculation

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Joseph Kennedy (D-MA) explained why he believes that speculators are responsible for high oil prices, and why pure speculation should be "eliminated":

One aspect of the health reform debate that I was never quite able to get a grasp on was why many Senate Democrats wanted to put so much of the authority for designing and running exchanges in the hands of the states. My impression is that the quality of governance offered by state governments in the United States is generally low, and that mainly you should try to avoid handing over the administration of anything to state government unless there’s truly no other reasonable option.

MarcK asked in the requests thread about commodity speculators: “I would like to hear more about the commodities market and how banks like Goldman have been manipulating the prices. No one seems to focus on these speculators when the price of oil and even copper goes up for no good reason.”

Dr. Stephen Leeb submits:Short-Term Key: Neutral Long-Term Key: -8 (Neutral) It's no wonder many people find themselves confused about the economy. Two of the most reliable economic indicators we know are currently giving contradictory readings.

For almost the last year, greedy, destabilizing, market-manipulating speculators in the futures markets have been driving up down the price of natural gas to historic

Here are some excerpts from a new energy study titled "North American Energy Inventory" from The Institute for Energy Research: 

FEW relationships in life are as tight as that between rising oil prices and increasing complaints about commodity speculators. Nation reporter Chris Hayes sees the cost of oil going up and unholsters his anti-speculation column: