Thanks for Nick Akorn link, going to spend some time on it right after I finish my reply.
JD: not going to spend time breaking down what he is or isn't right about. His opinions are his, mine are mine, and they don't all match up. It is not what he says himself with his blog that matters so much to me, as his links to Peakers in their OWN WORDS that is so revealing. JD didn't force guys like Matt Simmons and Campbell to be wildly off by years in terms of their predictions over the years, and put themselves on record about it. He didn't force Campbell to put nazi crap into his ASPO newsletter.
Here's my take on some of these resources you point out:
[
www.lastoilshock.com]
Here's some brilliance from David Strahan in which he tries to exonerate BP for the oil spill. Sorry, "mates", this isn't going over well with this particular pissed-off American. And, yes, I agree with the notion that Americans themselves have to share the blame. But this is going too far.
[
www.independent.co.uk]
"Hollywood loves a villain with an English accent. After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, it was inevitable American commentators would deride BP as British Petroleum and its CEO as Tony Wayward. But even as residents of the Gulf Coast despair and BP fumbles from one seat-of-the-pants engineering "solution" to another, Americans should realise the company has done them a huge favour.
It may seem grotesque to suggest an upside given the scale of this human tragedy and unfolding environmental disaster: the 11 dead and their grieving families; the potentially devastated wetlands and the sub-sea plumes of crude and toxic dispersant; the lost livelihoods of Louisiana fishermen; and the $30bn hit to BP shareholders – that's anyone with a pension in this country. But there may be benefits. "
[
www.futurescenarios.org]
Holmgren, huh? That is interesting, when I read that, I thought, "Wasn't there a crackpot 911 Truther guy who was also into Peak Oil with a name of Holmgren?" Sure enough, his brother is Gerard Holmgren! Small world, eh? Is he really the "Founder of permaculture" or is that a title he gave himself?
[
www.jeffrubinssmallerworld.com]
Sigh, I don't know how many guys I have like this forwarded to me. "Who better to trust about the price of oil than a strategic investor?" You do realize that there are people who not only make money when oil goes UP, but when it goes down as well? My guess is this guy, like many investors that pop up in the Peak Oil scene is running some kind of game like that. For comparison, I would point out that Goldman Sachs is partly in trouble because they were telling investors to keep buying subprime mortgages, while GS themselves were in the process of dumping them. This stuff is all too common on Wall Street, and oil is certainly no stranger to these games. Again, with Peak Oil, I have always been struck by how little mention of OPEC there is among "analysts", and how little discussion of market manipulation and speculation there is. Haven't people heard of "hedge funds", "shorts", "puts" and all that other stuff?
Here's one of Jeff's "sure things". Oil back at $100 by 5/28/10. Except that it was really around $70. Only off by around 35% or so!
[
boards.straightdope.com]
" Jeff Rubin: $100/barrel oil again in a year, for sure.
Economist and author Jeff Rubin predicted in this week's Newsweek that within a year, oil would once again be $100 per barrel or more, pushed up by the initial stages of economic recovery. "It is inevitable," he stated. Happily, this prediction fits into his general skepticism of globalization, as does his solution to his predicted oil boom.
Of course, this prediction flies in the face of most economic pundits I've read (one of whom flatly stated something along the lines of, "predicting $100/barrel oil means you're predicting the Dow Jones 10K+ again"), most of whom tie such a price to a much bigger recovery in fundamentals.
What do you all think? Does the answer of who's right depend on whether or not, as many claimed a year ago, that speculation played a major role in oil getting that high? "
The Final Energy Crisis by McKillop and Newman (2005)
Aside from being an obvious jew-hating loon, McKillop is also not that good an analyst. But again, considering market manipulation, that may be the whole point. More essays in the book from the usual suspects, including Colin Campbell (sorry, folks, but at this point, that is an ANTI-endorsement of the book).
Here is some classic McKillip hyperbole.
[
www.safehaven.com]
And Safehaven appears to be a "Goldbug" site, dedicated to pushing up the value of oil and gold, which will rise in value when markets crash. Not that this was a terrible investment strategy a few years back, but in general, this is right-wing Bircheroid stuff.
[
www.safehaven.com]
Also, while looking into McKillop, I found this strange site, which covers the usual PO/TT talking points. Very strange lineup of characters, probably could spend a few days poking around these folks and find all kinds of nuggets. Some stick out, like fascist Pimentel, and Ruppert's former handler Catherine Austin Fitts. But others are unknown to me. Definitely worth researching this group if anyone has the time...
[
www.energysolutionsconference.org]
FEASTA
[
www.feasta.org]
Oh, boy, you hit the motherlode with this one, Graham. Good find. I think this ties a lot of things together, in terms of what is being pushed by Anthros through TT, Tri-folding, "social credit", community currency, etc. In the end, it all winds up National Socialist. Here is a piece celebrated by Richard Douthwaite, co-head of FEASTA, calling for a Nazi economic system. It was written by Ellen Hodgson Brown, ANOTHER right-winger "ecologist"! Surprise, surprise.
[
www.feasta.org]
How Germany got itself out of the 1930s depression
Emer O'Siochru has drawn my attention to an article by Ellen Hodgson Brown posted at [
www.webofdebt.com] which describes how powerful a second national currency can be when the first is disabled by debt and speculation. Brown quotes economist Henry C. K. Liu on Germany’s remarkable transformation:
“The Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, at a time when its economy was in total collapse, with ruinous war-reparation obligations and zero prospects for foreign investment or credit. Yet through an independent monetary policy of sovereign credit and a full-employment public-works program, the Third Reich was able to turn a bankrupt Germany, stripped of overseas colonies it could exploit, into the strongest economy in Europe within four years, even before armament spending began.”
Brown then writes herself " [Hitler] rescued Germany from the throes of a worldwide depression .... through a plan of public works paid for with currency generated by the government itself. Projects were first earmarked for funding, including flood control, repair of public buildings and private residences, and construction of new buildings, roads, bridges, canals, and port facilities. The projected cost of the various programs was fixed at one billion units of the national currency. One billion non-inflationary bills of exchange called Labor Treasury Certificates were then issued against this cost. Millions of people were put to work on these projects, and the workers were paid with the Treasury Certificates. The workers then spent the certificates on goods and services, creating more jobs for more people. These certificates were not actually debt-free but were issued as bonds, and the government paid interest on them to the bearers. But the certificates circulated as money and were renewable indefinitely, making them a de facto currency; and they avoided the need to borrow from international lenders or to pay off international debts.6 The Treasury Certificates did not trade on foreign currency markets, so they were beyond the reach of the currency speculators. They could not be sold short because there was no one to sell them to, so they retained their value.
"Within two years, Germany’s unemployment problem had been solved and the country was back on its feet. It had a solid, stable currency, and no inflation, at a time when millions of people in the United States and other Western countries were still out of work and living on welfare. Germany even managed to restore foreign trade, although it was denied foreign credit and was faced with an economic boycott abroad. It did this by using a barter system: equipment and commodities were exchanged directly with other countries, circumventing the international banks. This system of direct exchange occurred without debt and without trade deficits. Although Germany’s economic experiment was short-lived, it left some lasting monuments to its success, including the famous Autobahn, the world’s first extensive superhighway."
"Chatham" report. Sorry, tried downloading this but it was too small to read. For some reason it didn't prompt the Acrobat reader, so I couldn't resize it.