Links to must-read views for thepanelist.net readers…

High oil prices are back – more than $125 per barrel. Such prices are associated with the macroeconomic pains of the 1970s, but this column argues that the recent surge may actually be good news for developed economies’ industries. The logic lies in the difference between demand shocks and supply shocks.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Democrats’ nomination of Barack Obama as their candidate for president has improved America’s image abroad, says Thomas Friedman at The New York Times.

Italy Joins Nuclear Power Revival: Pushed by high prices and global warming concerns, the new Italian government will join other EU countries in considering the controversial energy plants.

More than 4,000 children in China have been given the name Aoyun, meaning Olympic Games, in the past 15 years.

Are "fundamentals" – supply and demand – keeping the price of oil so high? Or is it those nasty "speculators"?