laura rozen has a post about something i've been mulling over all day. could the bush administration's sudden decision to send a high-ranking diplomat to a meeting with an iranian representative and to open a diplomatic office in tehran be explained by the high oil prices?
a lot of different things are contributing to recent rise in oil, but one clear factor is the market's fear of an attack on iran and the iranian response. i mentioned before, one of the few ways that american politicians can help lower oil prices is to stop talking about an attack against iran. could it be that the bush administration is doing not just that, but also going further, making signs of rapprochement to try to sooth the market? in the few days since the news of this new diplomatic stance came out, the price of oil fell about $18 a barrel. does that mean it's working?
