Free market?

I have mixed views over "the free market".  In many ways I think too much competition is a bad thing, leading to silly prices e.g. for milk here in the UK. I still feel competition in essential services like transport and energy is daft. Yes, I know, competition is in some ways good, but why should shareholders make profits? Surely, we the taxpayers should be the shareholders? I know this very left wing, but to me it seems "right".

On the other hand, competition can bring overpriced goods down to reasonable levels. There has been a recent example where an overpriced Japanese radio transceiver has already dropped from £1299 to £991 as a result of competition. Dealers were not passing on the recent improvements in the exchange rate.  Each was happy to cream off profits, at the expense of the consumer, until competition encouraged the price to fall. I think a price war is inevitable.

Petrol and diesel prices - creeping upwards

Have you noticed that the price of petrol and diesel is creeping upwards again? OK the price of a barrel has risen slightly and the exchange rate against the dollar of the UK pound is a little worse. However, it seems someone is out to push prices up again to maximise profits.

Personally, I think fuel prices should be set nationally as in Iceland. In Iceland prices are the same wherever you go.   I also think it is odd that anyone profits when fuels are essential to all of us.  I'd run all energy supplies as nationalised industries, with any profits benefiting the consumer and not private share-holders. In this I'd put all essential services like energy, trains and buses. Clearly privatisation may encourage efficiency but making profits for private shareholders is stupid, in my opinion, when we are talking of essential services. These should be run for the benefit of all, not the few.

Oil prices

The price of a barrel of oil seems to be rising again and stood at around $58 today. Maybe the oil companies will be increasing their prices very soon!  Most prices for domestic fuel have dropped  far less than the drop  in wholesale prices.

Falling oil prices

Oil prices continue to fall worldwide for many reasons.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30247276. I think North Sea Oil is a minor part of our trade figures these days. Had Scotland become independent, the falling oil revenues might have been very serious.

"Welcome to the new world of oil," said Michael Wittner, Societe Generale's senior oil analyst. "Saudi Arabia and Opec will no longer be the mechanism to balance the market, they have relinquished that role. Instead, the market itself - prices, in other words - will be the mechanism to rebalance the market. We cannot overstate what a dramatic and fundamental change this is for the oil market."

I think this is good news. The Middle East is no longer holding the world to ransom. Also, we are (too) slowly weaning ourselves off oil.