Especulação sobre o preço do petróleo

Ainda sobre este tema, leia-se aqui a explicação do insuspeito Paul Krugman:

First of all, I don’t have a political dog in this fight. I’m happy to believe that crazy speculation distorts markets. And I do think it’s likely that oil prices will come down, for a while, once consumers have a chance to respond more fully to high prices by changing their driving habits, switching to smaller cars, etc.. But the mysticism over how speculation is supposed to drive prices drives me crazy, professionally.