IMHO: No One (Else) To Blame
Like most of you, I have found the soaring price of
gasoline to be enormously frustrating.
IMHO: No One (Else) To Blame
Not that we haven't dealt with this kind of thing
before—but in the past, there generally seemed to be a
reasonable explanation, whether it be a deliberate shift by
OPEC, refineries shut down by a hurricane, or some kind of
political turmoil in some far-off nation.
This time, we have a series of potential
"culprits"—the new economies in India and China,
government taxes, greedy oil companies, irresponsible
automobile manufacturers, unresponsive legislators, and,
more recently, underinflated tires, and even speculative
pension fund investments.
It seems like everyone—and no one—is to blame for our
current predicament (and, as painful as the current
situation is, just wait until winter).
Some politicians have already picked up on the
shift—and, with luck, their August recess will help them
better understand just how angry the American people are
about the situation.
I wouldn't for a minute suggest that our current energy
pricing issues can be talked into submission—but it is
intriguing how just talking about actually doing something
in the short term has already served to bring down oil
prices.
Talking Points
There are similar motivations at work in the DoL's
recent fee disclosure proposal (see
IMHO: "Know" Way
).
Not that speculation has (yet) been accused of driving up
401(k) fees—but the DoL specifically states that the
proposal's required disclosures "…[are] expected to result
in the payment of lower fees for many participants."
I'll get to how much lower in a minute, but it's worth
considering just exactly how much it may cost us to achieve
those savings—in no small part because most of the 103-page
document that brought that proposal to light is consumed
with outlining the various costs and benefits projected to
result from the new rules.
Suffice it to say, it's going to be expensive.
In fact, under Executive Order 12866, the DoL has
determined that this action is "significant" because "it is
likely to have an effect on the economy of more than $100
million in any one year."
How much more?
The present value of the costs over a 10-year period is
projected to be more than $750 million.
On the other hand, the present value of the projected
benefits is expected to be about $6.9 billion.