Gail Tverberg

Latest articles from Gail

• Future Energy Consumption Could Fall Due to Financial Collapse

  Published 28 May 2013 | viewed 9,210 times

  They say that every cloud has a silver lining. If future energy consumption (which is mostly fossil fuel) drops because of a financial collapse brought…

• Do Humans and Energy have the Same Relationship as Predators and Prey?

  Published 16 May 2013 | viewed 13,477 times

  Humans live in equilibrium with other species in a finite world. In such a world, there is never really a Steady State. Instead, there is…

• What Limits Population Growth in a Finite World?

  Published 09 May 2013 | viewed 17,008 times

  We don’t usually think about it, but we live in a finite world. In other words, in theory we can count precisely how many atoms…

• Peak Oil: An Issue of Economics not Geology

  Published 23 April 2013 | viewed 11,673 times

  We have all heard the story about oil supply supposedly rising and falling for geological reasons. But what if the story is a little different…

• Developed Nations have Already Passed Peak Oil Demand

  Published 13 April 2013 | viewed 16,803 times

  We in the United States, the Euro-zone, and Japan are already past peak oil demand. Oil demand has to do with how much oil we…

• Oil Exporters Must be Wary of Dependence on Oil Revenues

  Published 08 April 2013 | viewed 14,830 times

  Recently, I explained how high oil prices can bring on financial collapse for oil importers. In this post, I’ll discuss the flip side of the…

• Forget Peak Oil, Worry About Financial Limits

  Published 01 April 2013 | viewed 14,343 times

  Resource limits are invisible, so most people don’t realize that we could possibly be approaching them. In fact, my analysis indicates resource limits are really…

• The Darker Side of Renewable Energy

  Published 21 March 2013 | viewed 18,140 times

  Based on the sound of the name renewable, a person might think that using only “renewable” energy is ideal–something we should all strive to use…

• 12 Negative Aspects of Globalization

  Published 02 March 2013 | viewed 1,266,367 times

  Globalization seems to be looked on as an unmitigated “good” by economists. Unfortunately, economists seem to be guided by their badly flawed models; they miss…

• How Low Wages can Lead to High Oil Prices

  Published 19 February 2013 | viewed 8,054 times

  In my view, wages are the backbone an economy. If workers have difficulty finding a job, or have difficulty earning sufficient wages, the lack of…

• Our Investment Sinkhole Problem

  Published 16 February 2013 | viewed 5,132 times

  We are used to expecting that more investment will yield more output, but in the real world, things don’t always work out that way.Figure 1.…

• Why has US Oil Consumption Steadily Fallen since 2004?

  Published 02 February 2013 | viewed 41,902 times

  United States oil consumption in 2012 will be about 4.7 million barrels a day, or 20%, lower than it would have been, if the pre-2005…

• How High Oil Prices Lead to Recession

  Published 26 January 2013 | viewed 10,360 times

  There is ample evidence that spikes in oil prices leads to recession, at least in the US, which is an oil-importing nation. James Hamilton has…

• Ten Reasons Why High Oil Prices are a Problem

  Published 19 January 2013 | viewed 19,788 times

  A person might think from looking at news reports that our oil problems are gone, but oil prices are still high.Figure 1. US crude oil…

• Why 2013 Will End in a Severe Recession

  Published 08 January 2013 | viewed 26,632 times

  We have been hearing a lot about escaping the fiscal cliff, but our problem isn’t solved. The fixes to date have been partial and temporary.…

• Why does World Coal Consumption continue to Grow?

  Published 23 December 2012 | viewed 12,605 times

  A primary reason why coal consumption is rising is because of increased international trade, starting when the World Trade Organization was formed in 1995, and…

• Why the Fossil Fuel Revolution Prevented the World from Starving

  Published 15 December 2012 | viewed 11,522 times

  Most of us have heard that Thomas Malthus made a forecast in 1798 that the world would run short of food, and that great famine…

• How Energy Leveraging has Increased Global Unemployment

  Published 08 December 2012 | viewed 9,499 times

  If an employer wants to maximize profits, it will want to leverage its use of high-priced energy sources.  From an employer’s point of view, there…

• The Fiscal Cliff and its Effect on Oil Markets

  Published 30 November 2012 | viewed 10,634 times

  The United States’ fiscal cliff is very much related to several changes we have been going through recently, and will likely continue to experience:1.    High…

• Why Current Methods to Combat Climate Change Don’t Work

  Published 24 November 2012 | viewed 19,408 times

  World leaders seem to have their minds made up regarding what will fix world CO2 emissions problems. Their list includes taxes on gasoline consumption, more…