Stagflation fears; High oil prices help U.S. foes

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com Good morning. It's Thursday. The Washington Post describes mounting concerns about "stagflation" while The New York Times reports that oil prices fell yesterday because of "concerns about a slowing economy and rising inflation." “The U.S. economy is becoming weaker and is unable to sustain oil consumption at these prices,” James Crandell, a commodity analyst, tells the Times. “But it is still too early to call this a tipping point because of some major risks we might face this summer, like hurricanes or geopolitical events.” Thanks to high oil prices, the Los Angeles Times says the economic climate is a lot more favorable "in countries whose leaders are most hostile to the United States: Venezuela's populist President Hugo Chavez, Iran's stringent Islamic rulers and Russia's growing autocracy."