Since oil prices peaked at $147 a barrel earlier this year, they have fallen by 60% to under $55.

According to OPEC’s president (OPEC represents many of the oil producing nations, particularly in the Middle East and the Third World) this has cost the organisation’s members some $700bn. This represents a massive transfer of wealth away from these nations, some of which are quite poor, such as Nigeria, and some of which are rich enough, thank you, like Saudi Arabia. The major beneficiaries will be the developed countries and the non-oil producing developing world, such as China and India and this may go some way towards alleviating the worst of the recession.

The only problem is that we also need that oil wealth directly recycled back to us by way of investment and purchases of products and services, so it is not completely positive for us.
 
Whether you think our economy will benefit more from Arabian princes buying football clubs or cheap oil will colour your view on whether we stand to gain from a fall in the price of oil. Supporters of Manchester City and the Scottish National Party may wish it had stayed a little higher.