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“Even if we see significant short-run gains in global oil production capabilities, if demand from China and elsewhere returns to its previous rate of growth, it will not be too long before the same calculus that produced the oil price spike of 2007-08 will be back to haunt us again.”
- Dr. James D. Hamilton, Professor, University of California San Diego, Testimony before the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (05.20.09)

“If speculation by long-only index funds did impact commodity futures prices, it is not evident in the empirical evidence available to date. Economic fundamentals, as usual, provide a better explanation for the movements in commodity prices.”
- Dr. Scott H. Irwin, University of Illinois (02.01.09)

“We take the view that all financial markets benefit from having a broad range of participants—providing the overall market remains fair and orderly. In particular, the involvement of a wide range of participants helps support the price formation process and deepens liquidity, which benefits all participants.”
- Memorandum from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) (07.2008)

“The Task Force has found that the activity of market participants often described as “speculators” has not resulted in systematic changes in price over the last five and a half years. On the contrary, most speculative traders typically alter their positions following price changes, suggesting that they are responding to new information – just as one would expect in an efficiently operating market.”
- Interagency Task Force, Interim Report on Crude Oil

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