The Western economies have been confronted with rising oil prices for the past five years. Political instability in the Middle East, social unrest in Nigeria and Hugo Chávez’s nationalisations all reinforce our dread of a shortage. This oil crisis is often presented as the consequence of the rapid industrialisation of India and China. As so often in Europe, we try to explain our own difficulties by transforming China (and to a lesser extent, India) into the perfect scapegoat; but what is the reality?
