12:05AM
The case for NOT punishing BP too much
Monday, July 12, 2010 at 12:05AM 
Bloomberg Businessweek article.
Simply put, BP plays too big a role in the US market to let it go under. If it does, the loss will compromise what little energy security we possess.
So Obama backing off some, saying on 16 June that "BP is a strong and viable company, and it is in all of our interests that it remain so."
BP's skill in negotiating its way into strategically important regions--like post-Saddam Iraq--is considered a serious US national security asset.
Reader Comments (2)
If we want golden eggs, we can't kill off the geese.
The administration has repeatedly demonstrated Hayek's warning that state power can crush industrial power at will -- so the state had better exercise some restraint.
Totally against punishing a company. Totally in favor of having people (and corporations are considered people now) being financially responsible for their actions. This is not state power crushing bold entrepreneurs, but an actual market action - your actions can make you rich or they can ruin you. It was up to BP and they chose the path to ruin.