Offers a chronological and critical perspective on the power wielded by Big Oil and Wall Street. According to this compilation of Learsy's writings for the Huffington Post over a five-year period, the nation's economic health is essentially controlled by the petroleum and financial industries....

Introduction: the Texas paradox -- And then there was light: from chaos to order in the kerosene era (1859-1911) -- No Rockefeller, no peace: boom-bust returns (1912-1933) -- Why are oil prices prone to boom bust cycles? -- The Texas era of price stability: US supply controls and international...

Some observers have conjectured that oil supply shocks in the United States and in other countries are behind the plunge in the price of oil since June 2014. Others have suggested that a major shock to oil price expectations occurred when in late November 2014 OPEC announced that it would...