The Third Man

The Third Man

By J.M. Hamilton ( 2-3-13)


"Don't be so gloomy.  After all, it's not that awful.  What the fellow said... In Italy for thirty years under the Borges, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance.  In Switzerland, they had brotherly love.  They had five hundred years of democracy and peace.  And what did that produce?  The cuckoo clock."

-  Orson Welles (aka Harry Lime), in The Third Man


Americans and American Business prize loyalty and fidelity in their friends with great passion and vigor, often above all other traits and attributes.  And with very good reason - after all what's the sense in having a champion hunting dog as your loyal companion, if he's going to turn and bite his friend and owner?  I have often wondered what is the breaking point of any relationship, or personal and professional bond, and I have concluded that it often comes down to feelings of betrayal.

The Third Man is a movie classic that addresses this very issue.  This film noir was shot in 1949 in black and white by Robert Krasker, and takes place in post-war Vienna.  The Third Man stars Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard, as Holly Martins, Harry Lime, and Major Calloway, respectively.  The love interest in the movie is played by the brooding and dark, Alida Valli (aka Anna Schmidt), who is the girlfriend of Harry Lime.  The story starts with American Holly Martin's arrival in Vienna to visit his childhood friend Harry Lime, only to find that Harry had died under mysterious circumstances.  Even more enigmatic are a series of characters, who show up to tell Holly slightly different accounts of his best friend's untimely demise.  Holly is warned to leave Vienna by Major Calloway, but Holly, loyal to his friend - Harry, wants to know what happened.  Moreover, he appears to be smitten by Anna, who provides yet another reason to stay.

To cut to the chase and without giving away too much of the story, Holly finds out that Harry, in fact, has staged his accident, and is both alive and well, albeit doing his best to evade the military authorities.  It seems that there is a raging black market in post-war Vienna, and Harry/Orson is deeply involved in trading diluted penicillin for serious cash.  Holly can't believe it, and refuses to turn his resurrected friend in to Major Calloway; but on his way out of town, the Major brings Holly by a children's hospital, where the affects of Harry's nefarious trade can be seen in crippled young lives, not to mention considerable suffering.  Holly has now reached his breaking point, and at the thought of the betrayal of all those young lives, he joins forces with the Major to help bring Harry in (or was Holly thinking about Harry's girlfriend, Anna?).

American manufactures - indeed, some would argue the American economy and citizenry - are also beginning to feel a little betrayed, presently, by Big Oil.  For decades American business has walked in lockstep unison against government mandates, regulation, and taxation.  And business was willing to overlook the peccadilloes of its private sector brethren, even if some of their activities operated at cross purposes with their own bottom line.  Of course, J.M.H. has often written and spoken out against the predations of monopolies and cartels; and the significant drag these cartels bring to the economy, and their detrimental impact to the business community at large, as they charge unregulated, and what amounts to be monopolistic profits.

In a still struggling economy, a cartel can tax the consumer to such an extent, through monopolistic profit taking (particularly in inelastic markets, such as gas, energy, and LPG), that it can send the economy into a tailspin.  Economist have made the case that every recession from the 1970's forward, was either precipitated by or accompanied by an oil price shock, such is the awesome economic power of the domestic oil cartel.

That's why it is absolutely breathtaking that American manufacturers are finally standing up to Big Oil, and the American Petroleum Institute, and stating that they have had enough.  At issue, now that America has achieved energy independence, via fracking and natural gas, Big Oil - which also conveniently owns Big Natural Gas (witness Exxon's takeover of XTO Energy, Inc.) - wants to ship America's natural gas offshore to more lucrative markets.  By shipping America's energy independence and natural resources offshore, this will in turn keep fuel prices higher here in the U.S., and thwart a nascent economic recovery and a renaissance in American manufacturing.  Arguably, higher fuel prices, and with American resources exported offshore, Big Oil's position will also serve to keep America tangled up in Middle-East affairs, and fighting to protect the interests of the Saudi regime and other oil rich despots.

All Americans should be proud that some American manufactures are fighting Big Oils efforts to ship America's energy independence to Japan and China; but they are facing a formidable foe, and very powerful interests.  Just this week, Senate Republicans attempted to push through legislation that allows Big Oil to ship LNG offshore, with the "Expedited LNG for American Allies Act" - such is the awesome political power of the domestic oil cartel.  The supporting Senators offered the familiar refrain that whatever Big Oil wants is inherently good for the American economy.

Seems as though some members of the business community bravely beg to differ.

Meanwhile, Exxon reported near record profits of $44 billion for 2012, a profit figure that was only exceeded in 2008 - when oil price shocks helped to drive the American economy into the ground.

Feeling betrayed yet?

P.S.  Make no mistake about it, J.M.H. is pro-oil and pro-energy, but is anti-cartel. 


 Copyright JM Hamilton Publishing 2013