In his memoir, the legendary Elia Kazan wrote about directing Vivien Leigh in "A Streetcar Named Desire." While he did not think that Leigh was a great natural actress, he was impressed that she would crawl through glass to get the role right. ...more

May 8, 2008

The Asian Development Bank announced emergency funding Saturday to help poor countries struggling with rice prices that have nearly tripled in four months. ...more

May 4, 2008

There's lots of complaining and finger-pointing when it comes to high gas prices. But in the 35 years since our first experience with price spikes and short supplies during the OPEC embargo in 1973, our vehicles have gotten bigger and the miles we drive has increased. ...more

February 23, 2008

Commodity prices surged to a record, as oil jumped above $100 a barrel and copper rallied, on signs that increased global demand for raw materials and the weakening dollar are fueling inflation. ...more

February 20, 2008

This week the TV news showed us images of George Bush, president of the United States and supposed leader of the free world, carrying a Saudi sword while dancing with a member of the Saudi royal family. For me, this ultimate indignity on the part of our president was reminiscent of a drunken Boris Yeltsin, leader of a failed Soviet Union playing "would you like to lead a band ?" Doubtless George, wearing his now famous smirk, saw no loss of dignity in playing the court jester for his Arab friends, perhaps to win them over to his pathetic plea for OPEC to sell more oil to assist the U.S. economy, one of their biggest customers as Bush reminded them. Their curt response was they will increase their sales when the market warrants it, thereby putting Bush in his place and inferentially reminding him that the OPEC cartel does not exist to do the U.S. favors. Its ability to squeeze the U.S. in a time of economic crisis, despite Bush's supposed generosity in approving a large sale of sophisticated arms to Saudi Arabia, is a blunt reminder of who is in the economically dominant position, in U.S.- Saudi relations. Way to go George! ...more

January 20, 2008

Saudi Arabia has the world's largest oil reserves, but how much can it really ramp up production in the short-term? ...more

January 16, 2008

and are thus out of the cartel's control. ...more

December 17, 2007

An accidental explosion and fire on a natural gas pipeline in eastern Saudi Arabia on Sunday killed 28 people and left 12 missing, Saudi officials said. ...more

November 19, 2007

Back in 2005, in an apparent flight of fancy, analysts at Goldman Sachs predicted a "super-spike" in the oil price to $105 a barrel. In the last few days, the prediction came as close as it ever has to fulfillment. ...more

November 12, 2007

There's some good news at the gas pumps. Prices are inching down, says The American Automobile Association. ...more

October 7, 2007