President Trump announced that he will end sanction waivers for countries who trade with Iran. This violates basic economics. While Saudi Arabia has promised to stabilize the oil market, prices are already skyrocketing as a result of this move.
While Trump is trying to be tough, he is truly showing that he is nothing more than Saudi Arabia’s servant. By bending the knee, Trump is solving nothing and emboldening the Saudi effort to hold the global economy hostage.
Sanction Waivers: A Band-Aid for a Bullet Hole
Sanction waivers, when considering that a nation ought to make its own laws, do not exist. By repealing these waivers, the US is attempting to force its policies on other nations. In other words, the US wants to force the rest of the world to stop trading with Iran and be entirely reliant upon Saudi oil. Such a move is not only an attack on Iran, but it is also an act of war upon the entire world.
The sentiment of Bastiat comes to mind. Protectionism does not work. Rather, it increases global hostility. By isolating Iran’s economy, the US is forcing them to pursue other means to survive. These waivers do not fix the problem. Rather, we ought to focus on ending sanctions and ensuring free trade for all. Instead of expanding trade, this elimination of sanction waivers is going to eliminate more than a million barrels of oil per day from the market. When one forces the supply to decrease, one forces the price of a good to increase. Due to this artificial scarcity, we can expect prices to only continue to increase.
Sanctions: A Tool of the American Empire
While Saudi Arabia holds the global economy hostage, it is only doing so at the behest of the United States. If the US wanted to, they could free the oil market right now and release the world from Saudi control.
But this is not the goal. If Saudi Arabia and OPEC maintain a forced monopoly on the global market for oil, then the US is able to further exert control on other oil-rich nations. They are doing this right now to Iran. This is the United States telling the rest of the world how they can and cannot partake in the market. This is the US acting as the emperor of the world.
This act of war upon the world will cause a spike in the price of oil. It will lead to increased hostility. Whether it be increased prices or armed foreign conflict, the poor will pay the price. The poor are the ones living paycheck-to-paycheck.
The poor are the ones who will fight in a war if it emerges as a result of this. The power-elites are shielded from the consequences of their actions.
The neoconservative elite is allowing the common person to suffer so that they may pursue a global empire. Sanction Waivers was a step in the right direction. The only reason they should cease to exist is if sanctions in general died. We must eliminate sanctions and other protectionist scams if we wish to have a free economy.
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