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Would be the price of oil (dollars per barrel) be higher, lower, or about the same as the current price of oil if the State of Israel had a supply of oil equal to the current supply held by Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia had none? Discuss, in particular, whether and how halacha would affect the price of oil.
is this a test?
Would be the price of oil (dollars per barrel) be higher, lower, or about the same as the current price of oil if the State of Israel had a supply of oil equal to the current supply held by Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia had none?
Yes (unless there’s another option I’m unaware of).
It would be assur for a Jew to sell it to another at a price 1/5 above market price.
DaasYochid- How is Yes an answer to a multiple choice question?
I believe it would be assur above 1/6 of market value.
The price in the United States would be unaffected. Oil is a global market, and the law of supply and demand governs. As it is, the United States gets most of its oil from the Americas (produced in the US, or in Canada, Mexico or Venezuela). The Saudis try to keep the price down for long term economic reasons, and if Israel were in the same place, the Israelis would as well. Control of the Israeli oil would probably be firmly in the hands of the Israeli socialists, which would be bad for frum Jews.
If Palestine had been oil rich in 1947, it probably would today have a Governor appointed by either the British or the Americans. One major factor for Israeli independence was the lack of any “plus” to owning Eretz Yisrael, enough to justify the high cost of occupying it.
What’s this got to do with the price of tea in China?
How is Yes an answer to a multiple choice question?
I read the question as a yes or no question. As in, “Can I please have a glass of Coke or Pepsi”?
I believe it would be assur above 1/6 of market value.
That depends if you calculate ???? or ????.
It was a bad joke that I meant nothing by. It was the phrase that came to mind when I read “the price of oil”, that’s it.
Things would be totally different. Both countries are on opposite ends from each other.
There is a site of Israeli contributions that is just mind boggling. And it includes helping countries that are officially hostile to Israel. Israel contributes more to the world than America and Europe combined.
saudi arabia, well, I would call them pigs, but I am not going to offend the animals.
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Here are several things that may or would be different:
The creation of Israel and Jordan from the Palestinian Mandate
A Jewish state would probably never have been allowed to exist, or been allocated in some other resource-poor area.
Arab Aggression and Sino-Soviet Interest
Despite the fact that Israel is tiny territorially and controls almost no natural resources, it is the target of aggression, including several wars, from the Arab and Moslem world. How much more motivated would those attackers be if there was a rich oil prize to be won?
Furthermore, what would the Soviet Union have done to advance their interests?
Nowadays, what would China be doing?
The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo
This had a crippling effect on the US economy and caused day-to-day hardships with the long gas lines and the odd-even license plate gas rationing system. Had Israel controlled the reserves Saudi Arabia did, the embargo would have been far less severe.
The Exportation of Wahhabism and Terror
Saudi Arabia is by far the biggest exporter of violent Islam. They sponsor madrassas, camps, cultural centers, mosques and the like worldwide that preach intolerance toward other faiths and advocate violence and terror as legitimate tools in the spread of Islam and defeat of the infidel. Without the billions of petrodollars they have available, their influence and ability to sponsor the above would be severely curtailed.
Furthermore, the State Department would be far less beholden to Saudi Arabia, and less willing to turn a blind eye to their racist and misogynistic government policies.
OPEC
I believe Israel would have been far more receptive to a request from its greatest ally and benefactor.
Furthermore, Israel would never be permitted into OPEC.
The Israeli Economy
The Israeli standard of living would be much improved. IMO, they would probably follow the Norwegian model of spreading the wealth derived from its natural resources to their citizenry. Furthermore, gasoline and power would be far more plentiful and affordable for the non-well-to-do.
A potential consequence would be fewer innovations and technological advances due to the lessening pressure to make a buck with no natural resources.
Israel would charge market price. They would produce as much as they could, thereby lowering the price worldwide and helping the American (among others) economy.
They would not curtail production to maximize price because:
b) They need friends.
2) Ona may not apply even if they somehow found a buyer, since the buyer would be aware of the price discrepancy (this is a machlokes).
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Two Saudi princes pull up to a bank with a tractor-trailer full of cash.
Six hours later, the president approaches the two men.
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