U.S. employers cut 533,000 jobs in November… Oil prices near lowest level in four years… Market looking at $40 as slowdown hurts demand

With the oil price at near-record highs and Shell and BP declaring record profits last week, there are various truckloads of drivel about the oil majors being ruthless profiteers doing the rounds at the moment. But who’s really raking in the money?

Remember the 1970s? “It was the decade of strikes, electricity shortages and piles of rotting rubbish on the street,” recalls a BBC report. Your editor is old enough to remember homework by candlelight, the three-day week and grim-faced militant union leaders such as Arthur Scargill barking pay demands every night on the TV news.