I commit to spending 10% less on gasoline until the Russians leave Ukraine. We are all living with the horrific and unnecessary suffering going on now in Ukraine. The top to bottom tragedy is caused by one man. A short man who is a dictator and who dreams of a long-ago evil empire and its’ […]
We are all aware of the current inflation situation. The financial press has spent months wondering if the inflation we are experiencing is short-term or a more insidious longer-term trend. I have been, and still am, of the opinion that it is short-term and will ease in 2022, significantly. We are in a perfect […]
[Note: Much of this column was first published in issue #37 of the Shift Age Newsletter] 2015 will turn out to be the peak year of fossil fuel use. By 2020 it will be clear that the decline in consumption of fossil fuels began this year. It therefore will be the first year of flat […]
In the last column here, I forecast that humanity may well have entered a new era of lower cost energy. This could last for just a few years or could become something much more long-term. This is due to a combination of factors and trends. The only real question is the duration. Here is a […]
In the past I have written that as a futurist, it sometimes feels like I live in a state of déjà vu. I spend a lot of time researching and looking into the future to develop the forecasts and trends that I write and speak about. I experience them, see them, and have varying degrees […]
Hydrogen has long been looked at as the ‘fuel of the future’. The general impression is that it will be a marketplace fuel in the future but not for a decade or more. Well, surprise, hydrogen is coming into the fuel marketplace today, albeit slowly. Last week I attended the National Hydrogen Association annual convention […]
Recently, people have been asking me a lot of questions about the fluctuating price of oil “What is the price of oil going to be?” “Was the recent price spike of $147 a barrel an all-time high that we won’t see again?” And “Will the global economic slowdown drive the price of oil back down […]
There have been many cultural changes so far in 2008. Some of these changes are in response to the rapid increase in the price of oil and other commodities. Some of these changes have been due to technological innovations. In both cases new behavior patterns are being established that will, to some degree become permanent […]
GM, Ford and Chrysler represent to a large degree the Industrial Age legacy of manufacturing in the U.S. “What was good for General Motors was good for the United States” was, for decades in the 20th century a very true statement. The manufacturing might of America post WWII was an economic miracle and the apotheosis […]
The fact that you know what I mean when I write the two words “Big Three” points to the power of Detroit and U.S. automotive marketing in the last half of the 20th century. The fact that they are no longer the big three in terms of sales in the U.S. points to the reality […]
