The federal reserve has hinted of possible economic slowdown. Energy cost, inflation, and general hate for America, is causing the economic downfall. It is inherently obvious that energy cost (Oil), controls the price of everything, from an Apple to a House. If you can control the price and flow of oil, then you can control the economy.

For example, lets say that you sit down for dinner at a local restaurant, and decide to have a Spinach & Radicchio Salad with Mushrooms & Cashews. Complicated, yet a delicious salad. Why would I pick such an off the wall subject as a salad to prove my point? Well, think about it, don't we callously order food, without giving thought to the detail involved in the cost of food, or anything for that matter.

1. The plate on which the food will be placed, after all, without a plate, you would be eating off the table. An average designer salad plate cost most restaurants about $15US, which is an average that I have gathered.
2. The flatware, which must be utilized, to properly consume the food before you. The average cost for a full set of designer flatware for one customer will cost an average restaurant $15 to $30 dollars US. The company which makes the product has to pay for flatware blanks, machines to press the designs out, and people to operate the machinery, all of which use some form of energy.
3. The salad leaves, which must be picked and shipped to the consumer. The cost of the farmers machinery, pickers, trucks to ship said product, that all consume one form of energy or another.
4. The mushrooms, which must be tended and turned by mushroom pickers. All of this cost money, from the gas it takes for an employee to get to work, to the energy used to keep the mushroom farms at a constant temperature. Then, you've got more energy cost, with moving mushrooms all over the country, and refrigerating them, while in storage.
5. Most cashews come all the way from Hawaii or Brazil, and I don't have to tell you how much fuel that consumes.
6. The balsamic vinaigrette, which is partly fuel itself. Although, a few balsamic vinegars are manufactured here in the states, most are still made in Italy. Also, you've got to consider the olive oil, for the majority of it comes all the way from Spain, with Italy in second.

Do you see the devil in the details. Everything, at least in America, revolves around the price of oil. The price of a barrel of oil can rise one dollar and instantly change the price of french fries at McDonald's. Oil can make you or break you, wake you or take you. What's your opinion?