Re: WTO and OPEC & diamonds

[Greg Nowell <GN842@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, JB, I agree, you know.  Diamonds were a pretty tight cartel,
and even with Russian horning in on the current market things seem
pretty tight.  However, in terms of TRANSFERRED VALUE ADDED, the
periodic oil cartels have, IMHO, won the prize.  As Morris Adelman
was fond of pointing out (& maybe still is, don't know what he's
up to), one could argue for effective "cartel effects" in place
even when oil was at "catastrophicaly low" prices like $8, 10, $12
a barrel.  On a strictly neoclassical model, after all, the ME
countries "ought" to compete each other down to some margin over
wellhead, since they have the capacity to do so.

When the cartel brings in high end producers, and then commodity
prices get out of hand, the high end producers suffer first and
most drastically, it's a crisis for them, and  hits the
anticipated revenues of the low cost members of the cartel, too.

You get really *wild* "acceleration effects" in the oil
exploration industry, BTW.

-gn.

"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote:

>      I was only referring to currently existing ones, or
> recently existing ones.  Actually, I gather the old
> diamond cartel has taken a beating recently.  But it
> has had a good run of about 70 years or so, at least.
> Barkley Rosser
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Greg Nowell <GN842@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 6:18 PM
> Subject: Re: WTO and OPEC
>
> >Maybe in modern history.  I haven't really checked to see how
> >long some of the old "trading companies" lasted with their
> >state-sponsored exclusive rights to trade in x, y, z
> >commodities.  -gn.
> >
> >"J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." wrote:
> >
> >>      The most successful and longest running cartel
> >> in the world has been the diamond cartel.
> >> Barkley Rosser
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: renatopompeu <renatopompeu@xxxxxxxxxx>
> >> To: POST-KEYNESIAN THOUGHT <pkt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Date: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 7:18 PM
> >> Subject: Re: WTO and OPEC
> >>
> >> >> At 04:06 PM 03/07/2000 , Henry wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >I should have written that OPEC came into existence as
> >> >an effective cartel in
> >> >> >1973.  I remember being in New York in 1973 where
> >> >several diplomat
> >> >> >acqaintances
> >> >> >of mine from the Southern Hemisphere were very excited
> >> >about the new OPEC and
> >> >> >thought that coffee, banana and other commodities
> >> >cartels can be patterned
> >> >> >after
> >> >> >OPEC.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> But of course there were other commodity cartels at
> >> >that time (usually
> >> >> sponsored by producing country governments), e.g., the
> >> >tin cartel, the
> >> >> cocoa cartel, etc.
> >> >
> >> >As a matter of fact, what you are calling the coffee
> >> >cartel was never patterned after OPEC or any producers'
> >> >cartel. The International Coffee Agreement (I am
> >> >translating from its name in Portuguese, I do not know
> >> >the official name in English) involved not only producing
> >> >countries, but also consumer countries. It established
> >> >quotas and prices for production, exports and imports.
> >> >As for the oil prices and the bubble in Wall Street, I
> >> >just have no idea of what will happen. I just hope these
> >> >problems and others of the same huge size do not
> >> >degenerate in a concentrated planetary war, for there is
> >> >in the horizon no hope to stop the already ongoing
> >> >protracted and segmented war between Otan and the axis
> >> >Russia-China.
> >> >Renato Pompeu
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >______________________________________________
> >> >Coloque o BOL entre os Top 3 do iBest!
> >> >É só até terça - Vote já
> >> >http://www.bol.com.br/ibest.html
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >
> >--
> >Gregory P. Nowell
> >Associate Professor
> >Department of Political Science, Milne 100
> >State University of New York
> >135 Western Ave.
> >Albany, New York 12222
> >
> >Fax 518-442-5298
> >
> >

--
Gregory P. Nowell
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science, Milne 100
State University of New York
135 Western Ave.
Albany, New York 12222

Fax 518-442-5298