The US petrocurrency illusion
America produces more crude than anyone. That does not spare it—or the dollar—the consequences of an oil shock. A comforting narrative has taken hold in Washington. The shale revolution, which transformed America into the world’s largest producer of crude oil, is supposed to have insulated the country from the geopolitical convulsions that have long roiled energy markets. Since the war in Iran was launched at the end of February, Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that higher prices are to America’s benefit, gesturing at the tankers loading up in American harbours as proof of the economic windfall. In foreign-exchange markets, the...