Tag Archives: high oil prices

Spike in energy prices suggests that sharp changes are ahead

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Gail Tverberg

Now, through several iterations, the economy has become increasingly complex, with less and less redundancy to provide stability. The energy price spike that is being experienced today is a warning that something is very, very wrong. As I see the situation, the trend toward complexity has gone too far; the economic system is starting to break down. Sharp changes appear to be ahead. The world economy is shifting into contraction mode, with more and more parts of the system failing. Continue reading →

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How the World’s Energy Problem Has Been Hidden

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Gail Tverberg

We now live in a strange world filled with half-truths, not too different from the world of the 1930s. US newspapers leave out the many stories that could be written about rising food insecurity around the world, and even in the US. We see more reports of conflicts among countries and increasing gaps between the rich and the poor, but no one explains that such changes are to be expected when energy consumption per capita starts falling too low. Continue reading →

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The World’s Fragile Economic Condition – Part 1

Posted on September 23, 2018 by Gail Tverberg

Where is the world economy heading? In my opinion, a large portion of the story that we usually hear about how the world economy operates and the role energy plays is not really correct. In this post (to be continued … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications, Introductory Post | Tagged , , , , | 1,500 Comments

How energy shortages really affect the economy

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Gail Tverberg

Many people expect energy shortages to lead to high prices. This is based on their view of what “running out” of oil might do to the economy. In this post, I look at historical data surrounding inadequate energy supply. I … Continue reading →

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Why oil prices can’t rise very high, for very long

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Gail Tverberg

Oil prices are now as high as they have been for three years. At this writing, Brent is $74.14 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate is at $68.76. These prices aren’t really very high, if a person looks at the … Continue reading →

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