Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said that the price of oil is in an acceptable range and "I don't know anything that suggests it's going to go higher." The Fed can afford to wait to raise rates because the economy isn't at a stage where inflation poses a risk, analysts said.
One concern is whether oil-producing countries heed the call by Libya and Iran for an oil embargo against Israel's supporters. An Arab oil embargo sent the US economy into recession in 1974.
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