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The only question for them is if higher prices lead to lower consumption by the use of alternatives, or energy savings, which reduce demand durably and not just punctually.

If they think that demand is dynamic enough to justify current prices, then they can decide to not fight them and enjoy them instead. But they are using the exact opposite argument.

Which makes for good diplomacy, of course, and allows the real issues to remain undiscussed...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes