What causes economic distress? Some writers and politicians insist nowadays banking industry folderol is the whole problem.
That's one of a thousand facets on this precious gem. Average folks at random know it.
I wonder if collapse of the dollar or global economy has a trigger, a camel's back-breaking straw.
Although it wasn't listed as a reason to go to war, the fact Iraq was preparing to abandon the dollar as the exchange currency for oil played prominently in the decision to invade. It seems the smart people who decide things believed America and the world are better served by maintaining the dollar as the global reserve currency, signified by how oil is purchased—and that dumping the dollar could cause global economic collapse.
It's an interesting idea that's come back to haunt us. According to Robert Fisk, a cabal of "Gulf Arabs" have decided to abolish the dollar as the reserve currency for oil trade with China, Russia, Japan and France.
If you think of things threatening humanity, you probably think of nuclear weapons or climate change. Tom Bearden says the most dangerous, urgent threat is the fall of civilization preceded by economic collapse—and Tom is right.
The health of "the economy," whatever that is, however you picture it, is about more than how well you can prepare for retirement. Ian Welsh predicts that as the change from dollars takes place, breathtaking poverty will become prevalent in our fair country. Many in government will certainly see the prospects as far more grim, and press for expanding war. Does ditching the dollar to acquire oil precipitate economic collapse?
Maybe. But I don't know, and neither does anyone else. Welsh says, "it will hurt." I think it will do far more than hurt.
I think it will plummet America into the dark ages. In 20 years, you won't recognize the place.
Welsh also boldly predicts no technical revolution can begin in the United States. Technologies our government has on the shelf can change the world overnight. Can that revolution avert disaster? Absolutely.
Not to exploit this terrible story to pitch my favorite cause, but preserving the biosphere and civilization matters and is why I loudly insist the government must declassify and disclose MEG technology, among others. You need that handheld device that powers your 1,000-hp car or home, and we need to take the energy cost out of the global finance equation. We must kill the petroleum energy industry, and pound a stake in the heart of OPEC. The sooner the better.
Yeah, I know, Oklahoma is an oil state, and that idea isn't popular—and I can expect lots of push back. The oil industry won't disappear. There will always be a market for every drop we can pump and refine, because, as blog commenters remind me, you can't make plastic and fertilizer out of energy. What is remarkable is, everyone knows the petroleum energy market is its lowest profit product. Of course the oil industry doesn't want their whole sales scheme shuffled. I understand.
However, oil energy was never sustainable, and our decision to be reliant on oil energy was made decades before the idea of environmental impact was imagined, and the economic impact of oil was only very hopeful. The world has changed. I believe we don't have time to discuss the self evident solution.
