Tag Archives: GDP growth

Our Investment Sinkhole Problem

Posted on February 8, 2013 by

We are used to expecting that more investment will yield more output, but in the real world, things don’t always work out that way. In Figure 1, we see that for several groupings, the increase (or decrease) in oil consumption … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

Humans Seem to Need External Energy

Posted on August 17, 2012 by

Strange as it may seem, humans seem to have evolved in a way that we have a need for external energy, such as energy from burning wood or fossil fuels. While the evidence is not 100% certain, it appears that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book draft, Financial Implications, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , , , | 138 Comments

Evidence that Oil Limits are Leading to Declining Economic Growth

Posted on July 13, 2012 by

The usual assumption that economists, financial planners, and actuaries make is that future real GDP growth can be expected to be fairly similar to the average past growth rate for some historical time period. This assumption can take a number … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , , | 56 Comments

The Growing Part of the World in Charts

Posted on July 5, 2012 by

Some parts of the world pretty much sailed through the 2008-2009 recession, while other parts of the world had huge problems. The part that sailed through the recession is what I call the “Growing Part of the World.” I thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications, Oil and Its Future | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 71 Comments

Is it really possible to decouple GDP Growth from Energy Growth?

Posted on November 15, 2011 by

In recent years, we have heard statements indicating that it is possible to decouple GDP growth from energy growth. I have been looking at the relationship between world GDP and world energy use and am becoming increasingly skeptical that such … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy policy, Financial Implications | Tagged , , , | 48 Comments