Random brilliance

Which will prove more powerful, a cartel or political uncertainty? That question is likely to determine whether the current spell of high oil prices endures longer than the last. In the 1970s, it was the Opec cartel that kept oil prices high. Everyone knew that there was lots of cheap oil in the ground, but the exporters were determined to keep it there. The strategy worked for a total of five years, spread out over a decade and helped by a war between two big producers. Then the supply from no...