In a column titled “Petro Populist Myopia,” Diane Francis of the Financial Post makes a good point about who should really receive the blame for the runaway prices increases of oil:

Prices are soaring, in part, because oil is denominated in U.S. dollars and the dollar has declined, thanks to Washington’s overspending on wars, trade, subsidies and government budgets. Investors have also abandoned credit markets since the (thanks to U.S. deregulation) subprime meltdown and put their money into real assets instead. But the biggest reason prices have been soaring is the future supply and demand outlook. The Beijing Olympics this summer will open the world’s eyes. In the next 17 years, plans are to move 300 million Chinese from farms to cities that have yet to be built. They will want roads, cars, buildings and streetlights. The equivalent of five New Yorks, and some 50,000 skyscrapers, are on drawing boards. Already, some 174 subway systems are under construction and a power plant is completed every month. China already has 200 cities bigger than Dallas.