Fred Smith: 'end the history of oil dependence'

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Fred Smith, founder and chief of FedEx, has appealed to the US to delink its economy from “an increasingly unpredictable global oil market”. Noting that the country is lulled into complacency when prices drop, only to find itself buffeted by volatility when it rises again, he urges action to stop the cycle. He writes that there are four ways: better domestic production policies; an overall reduction in demand; the development of alternatives; and a national conversation on the future. The result, he writes, will be revolutionised American prosperity and energy security.