Now look, look, don't get us wrong... we're all for free markets here. In normal times, the market is the best way to set prices. But in extreme times when the market stops behaving orderly and the prices make no sense, the government must, unfortunately, intervene. The first step is a ban, or at least an uptick rule, on shorting oil.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/12/a-modest-proposal/4487/
