Opic

[Elok]

This is the latest of my dad's pet ideas: the Organization of Petroleum Importing Countries. His theory goes that all the countries that buy oil from OPEC should band together and form an organization to regulate oil prices indirectly: every time they raise the price of oil, we raise the taxes they pay on investments in our economy. This explicitly relies on the assumption that the Arab world has nothing better to do with money they get from us than invest it back in our companies, and so I'm skeptical about the wisdom of it. Plus methinks they wouldn't take this sitting down. But I don't understand economics at all well and I'm afraid if I try to argue with Dad I'll get into an interminable explanation that makes me want to kill myself just to end the barrage of theories and beliefs...any thoughts on what would happen?

[Provost Harrison]

[Patroklos]

Nah, that won't work. For evern dollar they raise oil prices we give another billion to Isreal in military aid. That should work nicely

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison

My thought exactly on seeing the thread title.


And to answer the OP. Are you advising "OPIC countries" adopt mercantilism to add to their woes?

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Nah, that won't work. For evern dollar they raise oil prices we give another billion to Isreal in military aid. That should work nicely

I like it.

[Elok]

I'm not advising anything; I think it's a stupid idea, and I don't know who the guy pictured is. Nor do I know what mercantilism is, since I don't have Civ4 and it's been a while since HS history class. I thought they defined it as measuring a country's worth in terms of the gold in its treasury or something like that. Maybe I'm getting it mixed up with something else. S'pose I'll go wiki it after I'm done here.

EDIT: This is nothing so sophisticated as the definition of mercantilism presented by Wikipedia. Dad didn't mention some absolute balance of value or anything, I think he just hates that OPEC has a virtual monopoly and we can't push back effectively except by occasional displays of military force. Something like that.

[BeBMan]

I thought that would be some kind of modernist poem to the pig, just misspelt.

Like

Oh Pig,
how you provide us
with steak,
so beautiful.

[Elok]

There's a mistranslation there, BeBro: "steak" generally refers to meat from a cow when used alone. If it's from another beast you prefix what kind, as in "ham-steak."

Otherwise, not bad for minimalist prose. You could attribute it to one of the no-talent bozos like William Carlos Williams and probably get away with it.

[BeBMan]

Well, I summed ham-steak under the wider steak category. Also I didn't know what you call your usual pig stuff in English and of course I was too lazy to look it up

But th x for the hint. My carreer is just starting *threat

[Kidlicious]

Re: Opic

Originally posted by Elok
This is the latest of my dad's pet ideas: the Organization of Petroleum Importing Countries. His theory goes that all the countries that buy oil from OPEC should band together and form an organization to regulate oil prices indirectly: every time they raise the price of oil, we raise the taxes they pay on investments in our economy. This explicitly relies on the assumption that the Arab world has nothing better to do with money they get from us than invest it back in our companies, and so I'm skeptical about the wisdom of it. Plus methinks they wouldn't take this sitting down. But I don't understand economics at all well and I'm afraid if I try to argue with Dad I'll get into an interminable explanation that makes me want to kill myself just to end the barrage of theories and beliefs...any thoughts on what would happen?

They don't have to invest in our economy. They can just trade their dolars. Also, they don't have to use dolars at all.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Elok
I think it's a stupid idea, and I don't know who the guy pictured is.

He's that EU economist guy.

[Theben]

When they refer to themselves in the possessive sense, would they say my OPIC?

[Lul Thyme]

Originally posted by BeBro
I thought that would be some kind of modernist poem to the pig, just misspelt.

Like

Oh Pig,
how you provide us
with steak,
so beautiful.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by BeBro
I thought that would be some kind of modernist poem to the pig, just misspelt.

Like

Oh Pig,
how you provide us
with steak,
so beautiful.

*Steak comes from cows.

[BeBMan]

Your new nick shall be Captain Redundancy