PESKY DEMOCRATS & THE PRICE OF OIL

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse, along come those pesky would-be democrats in the Arab world and send the price of oil spiralling. Still, it’s an ill wind as usual and the crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa will likely keep an awful lot of pundits in business for an awfully long time.

A Sunday Independent headline trumpets a report that rapidly rising oil prices could prolong the ‘dip’ in Ireland by three years.

“The Irish economy has not come out of its current dip as yet,” said Tony Foley, senior economist with Dublin City University. “If we have higher interest rates, major problems with oil, and if we have to pour more money into the banks, it could be 2013 before we come out of this dip.”

Just what portion increased oil prices contribute to this extended malaise isn’t spelled out in the article, which is essentially a vox-pop of prominent economists.

All of them agreed the new government faces something of a poisoned chalice and there are more than enough problems to contend with already without rocketing oil prices.