FROM New York, the tension is spreading throughout the world. Last Thursday, the price of crude oil in the world crude oil trade center broke through US$80 per barrel, the highest in the past 26 years. It was nowhere near the record at the beginning of 1980—the equivalent of today’s US$102. However, many are concerned that it is the beginning of a continuous price increase trend.

The rise was indeed a shock. Two days earlier, in Vienna, Aust