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A Welcome Respite From Oil Tensions

There were those earlier in the week who thought that the rising tensions between the United States and North Korea would lead to not only war but an economic downturn. While the crisis has not been resolved (the U.S. isn?t yet meeting the demands of the Asian bully, and the little Stalinist dictatorship hasn?t yet launched the missile it appeared to be fueling up), it doesn?t seem as if, for the moment at least, the U.S.-Japan-South Korea-North Korea issue is having as negative effect on the worldwide economy as many previously thought it would. Whether this trend will continue depends, in part, on how the crisis is resolved.

Military action, that spreads, likely would cause more than a few ripples in our globalized world. There are still analysts, though, who think that the North Korean ?crisis? has been a welcome break from tensions from other Big Baddy on the Block, Iran. Tensions with the Islamic Republic over that country?s nuclear research has led to steep rises in oil prices, lending major impetus to airline companies to declare bankruptcy, cancel routes, and jack up prices all at the same time.

Gas prices in the U.S. are still at or around the $3-a-gallon levels they were a month ago, but the focus is elsewhere for once. As for the U.S. economy, things haven?t been necessarily the rosiest, but at the same time the world?s most powerful country hasn?t been performing too poorly. Even so, a series of storms which have hit the U.S. East Coast and caused flooding can?t necessarily be good for America?s consumer confidence