(iStock)
For decades, politicians have talked about the U.S. achieving energy independence, a seemingly elusive goal of producing enough fuels to avoid relying on the rest of the world to fill up gas tanks and keep electricity flowing.
However, that goal is elusive no more, Axios reports. The U.S. produced more petroleum than it consumed in 2020, and the numbers were essentially in balance in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration.
This means that the surge in oil prices taking place right now has radically different implications for the U.S. economy than when energy prices have risen in the past.
Thanks to the shale gas revolution of the last 15 years, the impact of rising oil prices is more subtle. Higher fuel prices do disadvantage consumers and energy-intensive industries. But there is a counteracting surge in incomes for domestic energy producers and their workers.
Higher oil prices no longer depress…
