My letter to the Editor in today’s Monterey County Herald:

So who’s to blame for the spike in gas prices? Their names should sound familiar. Among the major culprits are the same financial behemoths that caused the world economic meltdown four years ago. Speculation in the oil futures market by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, et al. has driven up the cost we pay at the pump.  According to Senator Bernie Sanders, Wall Street speculators controlled 30 percent of the oil futures market ten years ago, now they control over 80 percent. The Consumer Federation of America estimated the average household will spend an extra $600 a year due to speculation. You can thank both major political parties for the bank deregulation that made this possible and keeps it going.

Arlen Grossman