Category Archives: Introductory Post

How Energy Shapes the Economy

In the beginning, the Master Economist created the Economy.  He created businesses large and small, consumers, governments with their regulation, and financial institutions of all types. And the Master Economist declared that the economy should grow. And it did grow, … Continue reading

Posted in Book draft, Financial Implications, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , , , | 68 Comments

The Long-Term Tie Between Energy Supply, Population, and the Economy

The tie between energy supply, population, and the economy goes back to the hunter-gatherer period. Hunter-gatherers managed to multiply their population at least 4-fold, and perhaps by as much as 25-fold, by using energy techniques which allowed them to expand … Continue reading

Posted in Alternatives to Oil, Book draft, Food issues, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 158 Comments

Humans Seem to Need External Energy

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

The Most Important Resource for Our Future: Inexpensive Oil (but its not really available)

Our economy runs on oil. Most of the tractors used for growing food run on oil. Nearly all of today’s cars and trucks run on oil. It is popular to talk about changing to some other fuel, but the practicalities … Continue reading

Posted in Financial Implications, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 64 Comments

Oil Limits, Recession, and Bumping Against the Growth Ceiling

The issues we are confronted with today seem to be a subset of the issues foretold in the book Limits to Growth back in 1972. At some point, the economy cannot continue to grow as rapidly as it did in the past. … Continue reading

Posted in Financial Implications, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , | 115 Comments