Posted by
On the Right on Saturday, May 03, 2008 6:39:02 AM
Profited “greatly” depends on which measure one uses for that
determination. The industry did make $150 billion in profit, but that
came from more than $1.7 trillion in sales. Their profit margin came to
a whopping 8.3%, which underperformed the entire manufacturing sector
as a whole. For investors in the oil industry, and 8.3% return on
investment doesn’t exactly equate to screamingly fabulous growth,
especially when looking at pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverage makers
(19.1%).
Describing an 8.3% return as “windfall” demonstrates the economic
illiteracy of the Democrats. Of course, so does the notion of combating
high prices through an increase of the tax burden. Where does
Obama believe that tax goes? It gets paid by hiking prices at the pump,
as the relatively thin margins on sales will dissipate rapidly without
a price increase to balance it. Otherwise, it will come out of the
pockets of investors, which means people who own stock through 401Ks
and mutual funds. That means millions of Americans will have to delay
retirement, as lower growth will require more years and more
contributions to earn enough money to stop working.