Interesting development - release of oil reserves

So the US and other countries are dipping in to their oil reserves in an effort to curb the strains oil costs are putting on the world. If you have the time the AP article - US and others plan biggest release of reserve oil - is worth reading.

There's a lot of skepticism about the move. Many see it as just politics. Others see it as a way of curbing crude futures.

Personally, I think it's great. And as always, I say this from a PR position.

Will it create jobs? No.
Will it curtail inflation significantly? Not really.

Does it send a message that the powers that be aren't going to sit on their hands forever while pressures on the common man grow? Ya, it kind of does.

I see this as a series of PR-driven moves by Obama. He recently announced the removal of US troops from Afghanistan, with the apprent promise of full withdrawal by 2014.

I think back to the post I wrote on what a bad job Obama was doing - Bye Bye Obama - and I think Obama has come to the realization that ya, he hasn't done that great a job.

So now they have to kick the PR machine in to gear before the 2012 elections. Which means at that time he has to be able to show that he's made significant changes and that the country is heading in a direction that people want it to.

With Bin Laden under his cap, the president could turn things around and in a year's time be the publics darling again. But it's no coincidence that this recent plan to release oil comes towards the end of his first term.

I suspect we'll see another three or four BIG moves by Obama over the coming year to set up his re-election in 2012.

All that said, if unemployment is still at nine per cent, if wages are down, if cost of living is up,  he will still be vulnerable to being dethroned.

Anyway, this move alone doesn't really change the variables I'm watching as indicators for this recession coming to an end. But it's not a bad thing, especially from a PR perspective, because it makes Obama look like he's trying to ease the pain of the average Joe filling up at the pumps.

Oh, and just a quick (and in my opinion funny) observation.... a lot of people evaluate the governments actions and think 'artificially lowering prices using government resources is anti-capitalism / free markets' or 'what if you use up all the reserves, what next? then prices will go through the roof!'

I won't go on to much about this, but people fail to realize that the government can do whatever it wants to. If it uses up the reserves, it has a giant army to go take someone else's oil if it wants. If it's debt balloons beyond being able to repay it, it can simply tell its debtors that it's not paying (once again, with a giant army to back it up).

So I kind of laugh when people get worried over whether the government is being to reckless or interfering too much with things. The time for 'going to far' is about 10 years in the rear view mirror at this point. What we are in right now is some kind of wierd post-capitalism era which no one really understands just yet. And the only thing keeping the whole thing together and people believing that the world hasn't changed beyond the ability to return to normal, is the various PR efforts being undertaken to reassure them otherwise.

Tapping in to the oil reserves is good PR in that sense.