Category: By Other Authors

By Steve Keen: Credit Money: How it Works and Why it Fails

I need to get a small rant off my chest. I promised myself no finger-pointing on this site but I have to make an exception for Economists. With a total disregard for physical laws, the scientific method, and insufficient calculus skills to create a model that reflects reality, the embarrassing discipline of Economics makes it possible for anyone to prove anything. And they do. All the time. Not one economist in a hundred has a clue. And these people are the most important advisors to our governments. Perhaps it is the fact that economists can generate any answer to any question that makes them popular with politicians, who to get elected, must tell voters what they want to hear.

The only economist I listen to is Steve Keen. He has a lot of important things to say. What distinguishes him from the crowd, and you are really not going to believe this, is that he includes debt in his models. Do yah think debt might be important? Duh. He’s also well grounded in thermodynamics which is vital to understanding the economy.

Credit Money: How it Works and Why it Fails, Part 1

Credit Money: How it Works and Why it Fails, Part 2

Credit Money: How it Works and Why it Fails, Part 3

By Steven Kopits: Global Oil Market Forecasting: Main Approaches & Key Drivers

One of the best talks I’ve seen by an oil industry analyst.

The Center on Global Energy Policy hosted a presentation and discussion with Steven Kopits, Managing Director, Douglas-Westwood, on the different approaches to global oil market forecasting. Mr. Kopits’ remarks focused on both supply and demand-based methodologies, including how these models result in different assumptions and implications for oil supply (OPEC and non-OPEC), total oil demand and oil price. He also reviewed other key drivers such as changes in the transport sector and overall economic growth and discussed how these variables can further impact oil demand and supply.

By David Collum: 2013 Year in Review

Once a year David Collum writes a summary of the previous year with a focus on the economy and investing. I think it is the best big picture economic summary available anywhere.

It’s a long read but well worth your time.

http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/84101/2013-year-in-review

Also available on zerohedge if you like to read lots of diverse comments from highly opinionated readers:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-12-21/2013-year-review

By Nate Hagens: Navigating through a Room full of Elephants

Many people understand pieces of our predicament. Very few understand all of the pieces.

Nate Hagens has the best big picture understanding of anyone I know.

Nate has a new blog called The Monkey Trap that he set up after the The Oil Drum closed down.

Over the years I have collected a large library of books, articles, and video. If I had to chose only one item that best explains what is going on, this talk by Nate Hagens would be it.

Enjoy.

And here is a different version of the same talk targeted at a younger audience with less background knowledge.

By Tom Murphy: Growth has an Expiration Date

Here is a classic by physicist Tom Murphy.

This is my favorite talk on limits to growth, the most important topic almost no one discusses, including people who should know better, like the Green Party.

Note that Murphy does not mention the explosive worldwide growth in debt, which is the only reason the game has continued longer than engineers like myself predicted it should.

The problem with our reliance on debt is that when the correction comes, it will be much more violent and damaging than it needed to be, which is another topic that the Green Party, and almost everyone else, does not discuss.

In summary, the most important things we should be discussing, are the things we never discuss.

Isn’t that an amazing behavior for an otherwise intelligent species?