The sharp drop in the price of crude oil since late June has been grabbing headlines worldwide – and producing a lot of contradictory explanations. Some attribute the fall largely to declining global growth expectations. Others focus on the expansion of America’s oil and gas production. Still others suspect a tacit agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States aimed at, among other things, weakening political rivals like Russia and Iran. Regardless of the reason for the price drop – probably to be found in some combination of these factors – the consequences are the same. Though, as International Monetary Fund ... (full story)