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This is the transcript:
Whenever prices surge during a crisis, and we are in an oil price crisis at present, we're always told the same thing. We're told there are shortages, and there are right now. We know that oil and gas are increasing in price because of war in the Middle East, but that is only half the story.
Right now, we know that something else is going to happen as well. Oil companies are going to record record profits. Energy traders are going to make extraordinary gains, and electricity generators are also going to be bringing in the cash in a way that is not normal.
Why is all that happening? That's because market structures allow companies to turn uncertainty of this sort into profit. That is why inflation during crises can sometimes be something quite different. It's not shortage-led inflation. It's profit-led inflation, and profit-led inflation is exploitation.
We need the government to protect us against this exploitation, and we need them to do it now. There need to be windfall charges on the companies that are going to make a great deal of money out of our suffering right now.
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Mahatma Gandhi – “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”
But haven’t transportation costs increased if less is able to be transported through the straits of hormuz? Also, hasn’t the insurance premium of tankers increased due to the increase in risk. Both these costs will be passed along the supply chain. Therefore, either these firms take the hit or the costs get passed on. These costs aren’t directly related to those from the extraction at source.
There migh5 be marginal cost increases, but they will be small.