For Once, Low Oil Prices May Be a Problem for World's Economy

From:  Bloomberg 

by Javier Blas and Simon Kennedy 

 

VIDEO

 

• The global economy relies more on oil-rich nations for growth
• Azerbaijan, Nigeria and Suriname in talks for emergency loans
   
  For the last 75 years, almost every economic crisis has been preceded by an oil price spike. The worry now is that low energy prices are pushing the global economy into a tailspin.
  
  While the idea is counter-intuitive, it’s gaining traction because a growing share of the world’s consumers and investors are in the very places getting hammered by the rout in commodities prices. Apple Inc., for example, blamed weaker sales last quarter on lower economic growth in some oil-rich countries.
  
  “I never thought I would wish, let alone pray, for higher oil prices, but I am,” said Han de Jong, chief economist at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam. “The world badly needs higher oil prices.”  MORE