For much of its 47-year existence, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been a cartel in name only. But now OPEC may be the real deal: a cartel that works. If so, that's bad news for us.

　　Look no further than last week's OPEC meeting in Vienna. Oil ministers declined to increase production despite a fairly obvious case for doing so. Not only were oil prices fluttering just above $100 a barrel, but the United States is either in or near a recession and much of the rest of the world faces a noticeable economic slowdown. The OPEC ministers were unmoved. Indeed, they indicated that they might actually reduce production if weak demand- presumably reflecting weak economies-threatens to depress prices. Not good.