Reducing oil dependence saves the economy from oil shocks Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, 2003 (Martin, December, National Bureau of Economic Research, “Reducing America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil Supplies,” , 7/7/12 MDRJ) it is possible to reduce substantially the role of oil in But even if we cannot completely eliminate the need for oil imports, the economy with the technology that now exists and even more so with the technology that will be operational during the next two or Reducing our consumption of oil would make the U.S. economy less sensitive to global oil three decades. prices and therefore to shocks in foreign global supplies. If oil plays a smaller role in the economy, changes in world oil Reducing the sensitivity of the prices would have less of an impact on the domestic price level and on domestic economic output. U.S. economy to foreign oil markets would also reduce the pressure to by decreasing oil consumption relative to GDP bend our foreign policy and our military actions to the geopolitics of oil supply.
Reducing oil dependence saves the economy from oil shocks Feldstein, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, 2003 (Martin, December, National Bureau of Economic Research, “Reducing America’s Dependence on Foreign Oil Supplies,” , 7/7/12 MDRJ) But even if we cannot completely eliminate the need for oil imports, it is possible to reduce substantially the role of oil in the economy with the technology that now exists and even more so with the technology that will be operational during the next two or three decades. Reducing our consumption of oil would make the U.S. economy less sensitive to global oil prices and therefore to shocks in foreign global supplies. If oil plays a smaller role in the economy, changes in world oil prices would have less of an impact on the domestic price level and on domestic economic output. Reducing the sensitivity of the U.S. economy to foreign oil markets by decreasing oil consumption relative to GDP would also reduce the pressure to bend our foreign policy and our military actions to the geopolitics of oil supply.
GDI_12___High_Speed_Rail_AFF.docx