A lot of readers are twanging on me for refraining to castigate President-elect Obama for deeds yet undone. They're discouraged by the advisors and cabinet secretaries he's picked, ostensibly because the crew coming in are Washington "insiders," meaning they can't possibly see or do things differently. My own starting point for ...read more

The price of almost everything on the planet has been rising. And so has the inevitable talk of a commodities bubble and price manipulation. The discussion has become front and center in global markets around the world as economies reel under the heavy weight of soaring prices. It’s simple for a ...read more

World Made by Hand, Part II One of the Last Outposts The premise of World Made by Hand, James Kunstler’s new book, is apocalyptic. For a variety of reasons related to Peak Oil and economic collapse, American civilization simply broke down. The wheels just fell off. The economy collapsed. Commerce broke down. ...read more

World Made by Hand is a beautifully written novel about a very difficult time, post-Peak Oil. Some books hit you in the gut and force you to think; and this is one of them. You may go where you don’t want to go. But it’s quite a trip. The book begins ...read more

A few weeks ago we witnessed a political act of such unimaginable stupidity, it is hard to not choke at the mention of it. A cursory review of the details is worth a minute of your time. This compliments of The Oil & Gas Journal… “WASHINGTON, DC, May 20 — The U.S. ...read more

For a useful way to think about energy exports and prices, Dallas based geologist Jeffrey Brown points to the current situation with global rice supplies. Brown among others worked on the Export Land Model (ELM), a model that reflects the decline in oil exports as a result of Peak Oil. As ...read more

Oil has become the “anti-dollar” of modern times. Oil is now serving as the source of global monetary discipline that gold used to perform. Oil is the energy life-blood of all modern economies. So when a nation debauches its currency, the oil markets react instantly. And oil will not accept monetary ...read more

Has oil hit its peak price or not? The answer to that question leads us to ask whether or not commodities are a bubble about to burst. Barron’s recent cover story on commodities came down on the side that the party was over. I believe the charts I have in this ...read more

“He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it.” — Ecclesiastes 10:8 THE FRENCH PRESIDENT, NICOLAS SARKOZY, was in Washington earlier this month, speaking to Congress en Français and telling the United States to stop dumping dollars and risking a global financial crisis. Ooh la la! Sounds just like old times... “The dollar cannot ...read more

OKAY, READERS, LET’S TAKE A LOOK at what’s going on. The price of oil is nearing $100 per barrel and will probably break through that level any second now. The price of gold is nearing $825 per ounce. That should go higher. So this is what we know. Not pretty, ...read more