Oil prices fall and the sun sets on black gold

Falling prices are less of a threat to global economies, but will pose challenges as political instability hits corrupt governments that control much of the world’s oil, writes Harold James

The price of oil is often regarded as a sort of thermometer to measure the health of the world economy.

What is less often noted is that it can also serve as a barometer — warning of approaching geopolitical storms. Indeed, the dramatic plunge in the price of a barrel of crude — from nearly $150 in June 2008 to around $30 today — is likely to fuel continued upheaval far beyond the world’s energy and commodity markets, with particularly worrying implications for the European Union.