There’s probably little that I and Kimberley Strassel, editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, agree on when it comes to the economy and public policy. But I couldn’t agree more with her delicious screed against the airline industry blaming those oil “speculators” for the problems in the airline industry. Here’s one highlight:
I’m betting those speculators at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were behind the retention of that counter agent who recently placed me, my 3-year-old and my infant in completely different rows for a cross-country flight, instructing me to “sort it out at the gate.” The CME undoubtedly also hired the gate agent who told me to “fix it on the plane.” Ditto the stewardess who yelled at me for not dealing with this problem before I boarded and then ordered a dozen people to shift seats, delaying our departure. Not that it mattered, since we sat on the runway for two hours. But it’s good to know what donkey I can pin that tail on.
And another:
And I’m beginning to get why the only way I can use my frequent-flier miles is if I agree to travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., in October 2011. Those oil-futures guys, they’re tricky. I’m betting they’ve got some futures-hedge-put-short-thingy placed so that they will make a bundle if I touch down in that city a few years hence. Never underestimate the long con.
You can read the The Blame Game here.
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