Falling Oil Prices: Assessing the Economic, Political, and Geopolitical Impact

The price of world crude oil has plunged more than 50 percent since July 2014. The price drop has spawned predictions of job losses and financial collapse for America’s booming oil and shale industry, as well as a renaissance for U.S. manufacturing and a new burst of prosperity for consumers. Warnings of the doom of OPEC and international "Big Oil" have been balanced by forecasts that cheap oil’s boost to economic growth around the world will trigger a renewed price rise in the future.

What do falling oil prices mean for the American consumer? What do they mean for oil-producing nations, including the U.S., Canada, and Saudi Arabia, as well as oil-consuming ones? How low can prices go and when will they rebound, if ever? What are the political risks and opportunities for an America growing accustomed to cheaper oil?

To address what a new era of $50-60 a barrel oil will mean for the world’s global balance of energy power, Hudson Institute will host a panel of experts led by Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for Analysis of Global Security and senior advisor to the U.S. Energy Security Council; Dov Zigler, Financial Markets Economist at Scotiabank; and Matt Leggett, Energy Policy Counsel at the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee. Hudson Senior Fellow Arthur Herman will moderate this event.