Category Archives: Japan
Oil Has a Negative Attitude
Now even oil has a negative attitude. The price of West Texas Crude went negative yesterday. Nobody wants to buy the stuff. So producers were theoretically willing to pay you $37.63 at one point to take a barrel off their hands.
That was the price on a May contract which expires today. So if you have a tanker parked somewhere, now’s the time. The price on June contracts and later should move back up to positive territory.
Pippa Stevens at CNBC explains why.
Meanwhile, negative interest rates could be on the way to a bank near you. Thanks to negative rates in Europe and Japan, savers pay institutions there to store their money for them.
And, if you’re feeling nostalgic, here’s a cartoon in memory of high gas prices.
Nuclear Umbrella
The U.S. pledges to protect its Pacific allies from nuclear attack by providing a “nuclear umbrella.” So far it’s worked. The umbrella keeps a lid on proliferation. And countries like Japan build Nissans instead of Nukes.
Folding the Nuclear Umbrella
But if the only country to know what a nuclear hit feels like wanted to go it alone, it could. Walter Russell Mead speculated in the WSJ that Japan might be able to build the bomb in a matter of months. But since it can’t be dropped from a Nissan, delivery could be problematic.
Still, shooting missiles over Japan might be a good way to get things started.
