Sunday, October 30, 2016

Fracking Clarification

I made the claim recently that fracking has been upholding the American economy, which would be bad without it.  It occurs to me that I am only looking at a narrow slice, leaving my statement technically accurate but possibly not very helpful. 

My reasoning was simple.  The economy has grown at ridiculously low rates for years.  Cheap oil has provided a significant boost to the economy.  Therefore, without that boost, we would be trending red instead.  I think that is straightforward.

However, there could be a dozen other things that are more important that I am ignorant of or neglecting. Two huge offsetting factors might be the real story, and fracking just a side dish. I shouldn't have come anywhere near implying that it was the central pillar.  It may be, but I don't know that.

3 comments:

Texan99 said...

Well, it's sure supporting the economy here in Texas, and Texas is one of the few regions that's been doing well in the last 5-10 years.

Harold Boxty said...

Don't forget the $10 trillion in debt.
I'm not sure that includes all the paper money the Federal Reserve printed in the same amount of time.

Sam L. said...

North Dakota loves it.