Introduction

Rising oil prices are traceable in large part (special factors such as Middle East uncertainties and Hurricane Katrina aside) to demand rising very strongly relative to available supply. That springs from sharply growing demand from Asia, and also from the USA. - the same influences are working on other minerals and metals. In that sense oil and other commodity prices are strongly positively correlated- just as they were in the early 1970s, and again in 1979-80, and for very similar reasons. They are being driven by the fastest rate of growth of global economic activity for some ...