Tag Archives: oil limits

Why financial approaches won’t fix the world’s economic problems this time

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Gail Tverberg

Time and time again, financial approaches have worked to fix economic problems. Raising interest rates has acted to slow the economy and lowering them has acted to speed up the economy. Governments overspending their incomes also acts to push the economy ahead; doing the reverse seems to slow economies down.

What could possibly go wrong? The issue is a physics problem. The economy doesn’t run simply on money and debt. It operates on resources of many kinds, including energy-related resources. As the population grows, the need for energy-related resources grows. The bottleneck that occurs is something that is hard to see in advance; it is an affordability bottleneck.

For a very long time, financial manipulations have been able to adjust affordability in a way that is optimal for most players. At some point, resources, especially energy resources, get stretched too thin, relative to the rising population and all the commitments that have been made, such as pension commitments. As a result, there is no way for the quantity of goods and services produced to grow sufficiently to match the promises that the financial system has made. This is the real bottleneck that the world economy reaches. Continue reading →

Posted in Energy policy, Financial Implications, News Related Post, oil shortages | Tagged , , , | 3,503 Comments

2022: Energy limits are likely to push the world economy into recession

Posted on January 18, 2022 by Gail Tverberg

In my view, the first item listed is critical at this time: Is the supply of cheap-to-produce energy products growing fast enough to keep the world economy operating and the debt bubble inflated? My analysis suggests that it is not. There are two parts to this problem:

[a] The cost of producing fossil fuels and delivering them to where they are needed is rising rapidly because of the effects of depletion. This higher cost cannot be passed on to customers, without causing recession. Politicians will act to keep prices low for the benefit of consumers. Ultimately, these low prices will lead to falling production because of inadequate reinvestment to offset depletion.

[b] Non-fossil fuel energy products are not living up to the expectations of their developers. They are not available when they are needed, where they are needed, at a low enough cost for customers. Electricity prices don’t rise high enough to cover their true cost of production. Subsidies for wind and solar tend to drive nuclear electricity out of business, leaving an electricity situation that is worse, rather than better. Rolling blackouts can be expected to become an increasing problem. Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , | 4,903 Comments

Why political correctness fails – Why what we know ‘for sure’ is wrong (Ex Religion)

Posted on October 1, 2017 by Gail Tverberg

Most of us are familiar with the Politically Correct (PC) World View. William Deresiewicz describes the view, which he calls the “religion of success,” as follows: There is a right way to think and a right way to talk, and also a … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , | 1,605 Comments

Why political correctness fails – Why what we know ‘for sure’ is wrong

Posted on September 26, 2017 by Gail Tverberg

Most of us are familiar with the Politically Correct (PC) World View. William Deresiewicz describes the view, which he calls the “religion of success,” as follows: There is a right way to think and a right way to talk, and also a … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , | 939 Comments

The real oil limits story; what other researchers missed

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Gail Tverberg

For a long time, a common assumption has been that the world will eventually “run out” of oil and other non-renewable resources. Instead, we seem to be running into surpluses and low prices. What is going on that was missed … Continue reading →

Posted in Financial Implications | Tagged , , , , , , | 1,243 Comments