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I'm still marveling at the fact that the president of the US is trying to create a cartel to support oil prices, in effect taxing U.S. consumers to support the oil industry 1/ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-10/mexico-reaches-oil-output-cuts-agreement-with-opec-and-trump?srnd=premium&sref=qzusa8bC
If you look at it more closely, it's even worse than it appears on casual observation. Why? Because oil&gas extraction is extremely capital-intensive, so almost none of the benefits flow to workers. 2/
A little table: fixed assets in 2018 from BEA https://apps.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=10&step=2,
employment from BLS https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cesbtab1.htm,
implied capital per worker in thousands of dollars. 3/
employment from BLS https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cesbtab1.htm,
implied capital per worker in thousands of dollars. 3/
If I'm reading this right, oil&gas 40X (!) as capital-intensive as overall private sector. Also included hospitals, bc Rs trying to block additional funding despite Covid 4/ https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/491717-pelosi-schumer-want-aid-to-states-hospitals-in-gop-small-business-bill
Aside from desperate need for medical care, hospitals are a huge source of employment, while oil & gas isn't. So Rs willing to subsidize capital but not help workers. Are you surprised? 5/
