Author Archives: Gail Tverberg

About Gail Tverberg

My name is Gail Tverberg. I am an actuary interested in finite world issues - oil depletion, natural gas depletion, water shortages, and climate change. Oil limits look very different from what most expect, with high prices leading to recession, and low prices leading to financial problems for oil producers and for oil exporting countries. We are really dealing with a physics problem that affects many parts of the economy at once, including wages and the financial system. I try to look at the overall problem.

Expect low oil prices in 2020; tendency toward recession

Posted on January 8, 2020

Energy Forecast for 2020 Overall, I expect that oil and other commodity prices will remain low in 2020. These low oil prices will adversely affect oil production and several other parts of the economy. As a result, a strong tendency … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , | 1,053 Comments

Scientific Models and Myths: What Is the Difference?

Posted on December 17, 2019

Most people seem to think, “The difference between models and myths is that models are scientific, and myths are the conjectures of primitive people who do not have access to scientific thinking and computers. With scientific models, we have moved … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , | 1,598 Comments

Recession Ahead: An Overview of Our Predicament

Posted on December 8, 2019

Many people have the impression that recessions come from financial missteps, such as the US subprime loan fiasco. If energy is involved at all, the problem comes from high oil prices as supply becomes inadequate to meet demand. The real … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , | 638 Comments

Do the World’s Energy Policies Make Sense?

Posted on November 14, 2019

The world today has a myriad of energy policies. One of them seems to be to encourage renewables, especially wind and solar. Another seems to be to encourage electric cars. A third seems to be to try to move away … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy policy, Financial Implications | Tagged , | 1,380 Comments

How Renewable Energy Models Can Produce Misleading Indications

Posted on October 24, 2019

The energy needs of the world’s economy seem to be easy to model. Energy consumption is measured in a variety of different ways including kilowatt hours, barrels of oil equivalent, British thermal units, kilocalories and joules. Two types of energy … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Energy policy, Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , | 1,605 Comments