Re: Output Falling in Oil-Rich Mexico, and Politics Get the Blame

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

> On 3/12/07, Julio Huato <juliohuato@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > The future is not a replica of the past.

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Right.  But the question is, will global capitalism stay in business?
> If the answer is yes, it is safe to bet that oil consumption at the
> global level will continue to rise into the foreseeable future:

the idea that global capitalism won't stay in business in the
foreseeable future seems irrelevant. It's possible we'll have a world
depression and/or a break-up of the world into competing nationalisms,
but even the latter (which seems less likely) doesn't involve global
capitalism ending or shutting down.

one major possibility is that a world depression would put a major
damper on efforts to move away from fossil fuels. First, it would
drive down oil & gasoline prices, discouraging private efforts to
economize on them. Second, it would squeeze national government
budgets, threatening funds allocated for replacing and/or economizing
on fossil fuel.
--
Jim Devine / "The truth is more important than the facts." -- Frank Lloyd Wright