In Praise of Speculators - Feel Free to Read and to Defend against People Like Former NH Gov Jeanne Shaheen

As many people are aware, former NH Governor Jeanne Shaheen "wrote" a piece two weeks ago that appeared in the "NH Union Leader". The article excoriated speculators in the oil and gasoline futures markets. Mrs. Shaheen doesn't have a clue as to the essential role speculators play in a productive, growing market. If she did, she would be PRAISING speculators for providing liquidity for new ventures, and for buying low and selling high, thus freeing up valuable resources at precisely the time when more supply is needed, and thus helping to mediate the price spikes that would otherwise negatively effect the market. Mrs Shaheen should do some economic homework before she "writes" another article. But of course, since one suspects she didn't write this article, and that it was provided to her campaign by a ghost writer just days prior to Senate hearings on speculation and the regulatory bureaucrats who want to increase it (like Shaheen does), one can't be surprised that she would spout off without actually knowing about the subject. Here is a piece by someone who does understand the essential role of speculators, thanks to FEE.org...

http://www.fee.org/Publications/the-Freeman/article.asp?aid=6263