Tag Archive | "depression"
The recession is dead … long live the recession!
The world's first peak-oil recession has come to a close, according to third-quarter numbers invented by the federal government. Apparently flooding big banks, insurance companies, and automobile manufacturers with fiat currency interrupted the plummeting descent of American Empire. The stock markets skyrocketed expectedly. Predictably, so did the commodities markets.
Continue reading...Media alert
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The industrial economy is slipping through our fingers like mercury from a broken thermometer. Facing a rapid terminal decline in crude oil -- the lifeblood of western civilization -- there is nothing you, me, or President Obama can do to save the industrial economy. But as we near the end of the industrial economy, complete with the collapse of our fuel-, food- and water-delivery systems, individuals can make arrangements to thrive in the post-carbon era.
Continue reading...Three peas in a pod: Osama bin Laden, Rush Limbaugh, and me
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
For the first time in my memory, we have a major media figure pining for the failure of a president, and therefore the country. And, also for the first time in my memory, I agree with Rush. The economic collapse of this country promises a renaissance for non-human species and non-industrial cultures.
Continue reading...Gazing into my crystal ball
Thursday, December 11, 2008
When you're on a cruise ship, and you have the only window, and you see a tsunami headed your way, what shall you do? "Good" scientists would plead for research to verify the existence of tsunamis. And they would be rewarded for this action with research funding from fellow scientists. The wonks at the Oil Drum, for example, will be trying to access the internet to argue about whether we've passed the oil peak long after the electrical grid fails. On the other hand, I believe informed people -- even scientists -- should sound the alarm when a threat appears on the horizon. I believe we have an obligation to work toward solutions for individuals and, when appropriate, for society. If that makes me a poor scientist, I can live with it, bearing in mind the famous words of Albert Einstein when he found out about Hiroshima: "If I had known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker."
Continue reading...Change we can believe in
Sunday, November 30, 2008
All the wishful thinking in the country can't resurrect a long-dead corpse. By the time president-elect Obama takes the oath of office, he'll have all the power of a quadriplegic EMT without a medical kit, much less a resuscitation device. And he'll be staring at a patient with a DNR order, courtesy of a lethal combination of inevitable geology and abysmal policy.
Continue reading...More of the same from the cheerleader-in-chief
Thursday, November 13, 2008
"Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of output decline is 9.1 per cent." Energy experts generally agree that a 2 per cent annual decline in extraction of crude oil translate to reasonably painful adaptation and the cessation of economic growth, a five per cent declines spell very painful adjustments and an economic depression of unprecedented magnitude, and a ten per cent decline means societal breakdown at a monumental scale.
Continue reading...Do the media get it, or not?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
It seems neither the Fed nor the Treasury Department cannot stop sunshine with an umbrella, much less interrupt the relentless tsunami of dire economic news.
Continue reading...Denial, back in style
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Yesterday I delivered a presentation to a room full of Honors College students, peppered with a few faculty and administrators. The response was overwhelmingly disappointing. Seems nearly everybody in the room -- and in the country, for that matter -- wants to keep the current game going, no matter the costs. They don't view civilization as a problem at all, evidence notwithstanding, and they think the solution to our fossil-fuel dilemma is to drive less and bicycle more.
Continue reading...Location, location, relocation
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The increasing urgency of this topic demands frank conversation, but the human ego is stunningly fragile. As a general strategy, I would not recommend starting the conversation about relocating with a group larger than half-a-dozen people, primarily because you'll need to create and maintain an emotionally, psychologically, and physically functional group of people, on short notice, to do things you cannot imagine doing. The future is funny that way: We don't even know what needs to be done.
Continue reading...Destroying demand
Monday, August 18, 2008
I underestimated the impact of high gasoline prices on our behavior. I thought $5 gas would be necessary to produce the type of impact we're seeing at only $4. Demand destruction is so severe it's overwhelming events in the former Soviet Union, where chess-master Putin is spoiling U.S. attempts to extract oil by going around Russia. Along the way, Putin has demonstrated exactly how impotent the U.S. has become on the world stage.
Continue reading...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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