Here’s some fun news for a Monday.

I happened to be browsing the news and, yet again, oil prices are about to hit a record high. It appears that a weekend workers’ strike at a refinery in the UK and military unrest in Nigeria could see prices reach $120 per barrel. So, if you’re like me and already paying over $3.50 per gallon, you can expect to pay a few more cents at the pump this week.

But, wait, it gets better.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil is saying that he sees oil prices reaching as has as $200 per barrel. Now, get this — he is saying that it is not due to a lack of supply. Instead, Khelil says, it is due to the weakening of the dollar.

As you know, the value of currency is not static. Because it is a commodity, it is subject to rise or fall in value based on the same rules of supply and demand as any other commodity. But, to go a little deeper, it’s value is also determined by what’s backing it. Up until the early 70’s, we had the gold standard, which meant that we had some collateral backing up all the paper money we were printing. Now, we have the standard called the “full faith and credit” standard. In other words, it’s like America saying, “trust me…I’m good for it!”

Usually, this would work but, George W. Bush was never our president before. Now, to avoid having rich people pay a fair share of taxes but, still be able to “afford” a costly war, we borrow money.

Just to relate this to an average person, say you keep getting more and more credit cards, then maxing them out. You might even pay them all them minimum on time but, your credit rating will eventually take a hit because of the potential liability you become to those who hold your debt.

So, very soon, we could be fondly reminiscing of the time when gas “only” cost $3/gallon.

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