But the citizens of the oil exporting countries would love to consume…if given a chance.

Sir Martin Wolf says in “How to manage the world economy through two crises” June 25 that the ongoing transfer of wealth from oil-importing countries to oil-exporting countries… from those who spend to those inclined to save… will curb the rise of global demand” and he is right, but it should not have to be that way. The reason for him being right is that the wealth transfers goes into sovereign funds or other government pockets and not to the citizens of the oil-exporting countries who would also gladly step up their consumption.

Today, in Venezuela, I am publishing a fictitious letter from Arnold Schwarzenegger in which he offers to buy on a rolling five years average price 2 million of oil barrels per day to satisfy the needs of his constituency and take the worst volatility out of the market. To stimulate Venezuela entering into such a country he is offering to pay an equal share of the proceeds, to each one of the 26 million citizens of Venezuela, in the currency and in the individual account each one of them would like.

http://opinion.eluniversal.com/2008/06/26/opi_769_art_de-arnold-para-venez_26A1723279.shtml

As a minimum make sure that no one forces you to trust the existence of gold in California

Sir, Philip Stevens ends his “Modern-day parable of the run on Northern Rock” on September 21 questioning “Why should we trust anyone?” though a far more precise question would be why should we should be forced to trust anyone? Describing how “the squall became a hurricane because the risks of subprime lending had been carefully concealed in the mortgage securitisation market and then scattered to the winds” he should have remembered that what allowed that to happen were the prime ratings awarded to these instruments by the credit rating agencies.

Stevens, the doubter, even mentions almost with sadness that “it is too late, even if we wanted to, to roll back the frontiers of financial innovation” but of course that is not needed when all that is called for is some more scepticism with regard to the gold in California.

Start dismantling any forced use of the credit rating agencies, now! If the markets want their services let them say so but do not have the regulators do their marketing for them.