The answer is NO! Low oil prices help the economy in a VERY small manner. All that it is showing is less shipping, traveling and production. Do you think $500 is REALLY going to help the problem? What about those stimulus checks that everyone got....that didn't do anything! We are in so much debt and way over our heads that oil prices are just showing that business's (ie Americans) are making less money.

The answer is yes ! In the example provided, lower prices at the pump are putting billions of dollars a day into the pockets of people who most likely will spend those dollars. It's a huge "tax cut" for those at the lower end of the income scale.

The answer is yes. In fact, I believe that oil speculation (and the resultant surge in oil/gas prices) is the root cause of most of the financial mess we are currently in. People who extended themselves for new/larger homes a few years ago could likely afford them when they first purchased them. However, when the gas prices took an EXTRA $500/month out of their net income (took an extra $800/month from my family, as my wife and I both have long commutes), they struggled to pay the mortgage. Then, when the high gas prices caused food/goods prices to inflate at their local stores, they likely started to miss mortgage payments....eventually leading to the foreclosure and drop in real estate value mess we are in.

With banks dealing with this new bad foreclosure debt, they tighten their loaning standards....leading to the credit crisis we're in.

When businesses don't have credit available to them, they also "tighten the purse strings" by cutting benefits and laying off employees....leading to the unemployment crisis we're in.

When unemployment rises, consumer confidence and spending go down and investors panic and sell stock....leading to the Wall Street crisis we're in.

When wall street crumbles, unemployment rises, credit freezes, real estate sales/values plummets, and prices at the store inflate, we arrive exactly where we are today....recession. All can be traced back to oil speculation. REGULATE oil speculation again!

yes--for the average family of course lower energy cost will help-as well as put more money back in their pockets. more money in their pockets will mean more money to spend on other things-like-movies, dinner out, etc...!whos the moron that said no---some rich guy thats way above us poor white trash!

Yes, lower oil prices should help the overall economy. As it has been stated before if we spend less on gas /oil we might be able to aford our mortgages, car payments and other expenses. For me it is a $200.00/month savings. Additionally if goods cost less to ship then that price should also be reflected in the final selling price (if there is competition).
Lastly organizations that use a lot of Gas (police, fire, hwypatrol, military, government, airlines, etc.) should see reduced cost in the petroleum purchases. This should help ease budget problems.

The answer is YES. I dont get why this doesnt have a lot more press around it. With high fuel prices, people are spending money on thier fuel and not out in the stores. Then taking into account the home heating oil prices, everyone is in fear of not being able to heat thier homes this winter. With lower prices the money will flow a little better.
As for shaking an OPEC members hand..... that's bull. They want prices no lower than $75 a barrell for crude oil.... they are loosing too much profit ?

Low oil prices for any prolonged period mean less exploration, which means dwindling reserves.

And that means when the economy starts growing, the whiplash is going to sting like heck.

Whatever short-term benefit exists, it is going to evaporate like drops of water on a hot griddle. The family needs to move closer to work and school. Mommy and daddy are morons if the think this will last.

Also, OPEC did not decide to support current prices. They merely decided to wait until December to make a decision. It's now December.

The best thing that came out of this is that consumers ditched the idea of buying SUV's and started to buy non gas guzzling cars. They also got used to car pooling. The bottom line is we learned to conserve. We just have to keep it up so OPEC can choke on their fuel. Otherwise they figured out instead of funding terrorists to crash planes they can collapse the US economy by raising fuel costs. Its either they choke us or we choke them.