Why cheap oil could be bad for Democrats https://t.co/R6tYFW8Uqk | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/TFxmuInLbN

— POLITICO (@politico) January 23, 2016

High oil prices are bad for Democrats.
Low oil prices are bad for Democrats.

Let’s just say oil is bad for Democrats and be done with it?

Wall Street reaction to oil prices is different than Main Street. High oil prices suggest high demand, so that’s a signal of economic strength in global marketplace. Except that oil producers are running a glut of oil, while demand is down in China and improved efficiencies means we can do more with less. Oil producing countries need to pump more oil to get same revenue, pushing a spiral down on prices. That benefits oil consumers (everyone else) since it costs less to make/transport/consume oil products or transportation. That’s money spent elsewhere in economy (the good for Main Street bit).

Where it’s bad? States with high reliance on oil products like Alaska, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. They’re already running into economic distress due to glut.

But that’s what happens when a boom in oil goes bust.