Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
In effect the current debt is managed by borrowing from the future, on the assumption that the future will be better off. But the underlying trend based on an energy analysis tells us a different story.
Certain stories recur in the history of humanity – and one of the most dramatic and traumatic is that of hubris. Hubris is a drama brought about by actions motivated by excessive pride – for example the overestimation by leaders – and the society or institutions in their charge – of their power.
Why is the price of oil so low now? In fact, why are all commodity prices so low?
In this post, I show some longer-term time series relating to energy growth, GDP growth, and debt growth–going back to 1820 in some cases–that help us understand our situation better.
Many readers have asked me to explain debt. They also ask: Why can’t we just cancel debt and start over? if we are reaching oil limits, and these limits threaten to destabilize the system.
Oil and other commodity prices have recently been dropping. Is this good news, or bad?
