Stock markets have rallied this summer on falling crude oil prices. But is this a sane and sensible response to what these falling prices actually portend? The answer to this question is this: Only if you happen to be a Wall Street trader and playing with OPM—Other People’s Money, my money and yours in mutual and pension funds.

Crude prices are falling for two reasons: a weakening demand for oil and a rising US dollar. This weakening demand, however, is the result of faltering economies that don’t use as much oil. And the US dollar isn’t strengthening, it’s only rising in comparison to the Japanese yen, the British pound and West Europe’s euro, reflecting the fact that their economies are performing even worse than our own.

Pursuing current stock market logic, stock prices should really soar if we have a full-fledged depression because then demand for oil would plunge still more. And if it were a worldwide depression that would be also be really great for stock prices because other people in the world would be suffering even more than Americans.

Often, whom the gods would punish, they first make silly…