Archive for the Peak Oil Category

Gas / Au / Ag / Cu: The Great Commodity / Currency Wars: What’s Up? What’s Down? What’s Really Up? What’s Going Down? (November 17, 2014)

Posted in "Fiat ______", Carbon Surcharge & Dividend, China, Debt/Deficits, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Football, Foreign Policy, Gold Standard, Middle East, Money, Peak Oil, Russia, Silver Standard on November 17, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

E1          “Today’s high-tech town criers, LED scoreboards broadcast the news from every street and street corner.  They proclaim that gas prices are down, gas prices are down, gas prices are down.  The most public and publicized scores in our economy are even more prominent than football scores.”

E2          “Is supply up because Saudi Arabia has strategically increased the supply?  Is demand down because the world is in recession?  What’s really up?  What’s really going down?”

E1          “What’s real?  The great trifecta is at play.  Saudi Arabia is advancing American political interests by undercutting Russian oil sales while also underpricing American fracking operators and undermining Iranian producers.  Prices now below about $80 a barrel undermine American competitors who are fracking the production of oil at a cost of typically $85 a barrel.  An American operator who cannot compete and goes down will not later reenter the market.  Saudi Arabia can effortlessly constrict supply and drive up the price.”

E2          “The Republicans will provide tax benefits and government subsidies for the frackers and increase the national debt.”

E1          “That’s for real.  If Russia and Russians can endure the very real impact of the sanctions and continue to circumvent the use of the dollar, they may end up prevailing in the ‘Cold Currency War.’  The public scoreboards provide daily clues to developments on the international battlefield.”

. . .

E2          “Now when the price of oil is down is the time to adopt a carbon premium and dividend program.”

E1          “Never happen.”

E2          “Nothing will happen until it is too late.”

E1          “Not when gas mongering SUVs are flying off the shelves.”

. . .

E2          “The PM markets for elements 79 and 47 are distorted.  Now that the physical quantities of Au and Ag are so tiny in comparison to the exploding paper market, the spot price is another illusion.  Sellers of physical quantities are setting prices that exceed the former ‘spot price plus markup’ formula to reflect the limited physical supply.  However, no generally accepted ‘physical spot price’ has emerged.  In a world of fraud, illusion and dishonesty, the ‘market price’ is not the ‘market price’ and another ‘market price’ must be concocted to provide realistic information.”

E1          “The market is unreal.  However, it is hard to fix the metals market when the metals market is fixed.  Information is sketchy, incomplete and possibly inaccurate.  China, Russia, India, Brazil and other governments and the Chinese, Russians, Indians, Brazilians and other citizens are amassing massive amounts of physical gold.  Manipulating the acquisition price of physical gold lower via machinations in the paper market facilitates the transfer of physical gold to folks who are not always happy with us.”

E2          “That may be the most counter-productive policy in recent memory.  Some countries are rallying around gold to provide a counterpoise to the dollar.”

E1          “That is surreal.”

. . .

E2          “Morgans were minted from 1878 to 1904.  Peace dollars from 1921 to 1935.  Even among those who are not interested in the numismatic value of a coin, the premium for George T. Morgan’s creation is more than the premium for Peace dollars.”

E1          “A hint of aesthetic sensibility among the junk metal set.  Morgans may have been minted again in 1921.”

E2          “One fellow said that he maintains 70 percent of his precious metals inventory in silver to serve as a medium of exchange and 30 percent in gold to serve as a store of value and secondary medium of exchange.  However, the dollar is still the unit of account.  Wonder what he knows.”

E1          “Metals perforce do not pay interest, yet when banks start charging interest to hold funds, metals become the non-interest burdened asset.  What percentage of his assets are in metals?  And why?”

. . .

E1          “The ISIS or ISIL or Islamic State or whatever is proposing to issue their own currency by minting real gold dinars and real silver dirhams.”

E2          “The IS is also in the business of selling oil on the black market at reduced prices which lowers the world price.  Another factor in the analysis.”

E1          “And the scoreboard up ahead proclaims: ‘Unleaded – 3 dinars and 99 dirhams per liter; Diesel – 4 dinars and 49 dirhams per liter.  Free oil check and window washing.’”

E2          “A mecca for the gold bugs.”

E1          “‘27 inch flat screens from China for 99 dinars.’”

E2          “If gold is denominated in dollars, the dollar is king.  If gold is denominated in gold, then gold is king.”

E1          “Aren’t they obligated to field a football team first?”

. . .

E1          “If I couldn’t make light of it, it would get too heavy.”

. . .

[See the related e-commentary earlier this year at “Texas Votes To Secede From U.S. And Join Mexico; Russia Blows Up World In Response (March 17, 2014)“, “NATO: Nations Aggressively Taking Over (March 31, 2014)“, “Distrust But Verify (July 21, 2014)” and “World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014).”  See also the background e-commentary at “The Silver Standard: The Value Of (Sort Of) Real Money (July 15, 2013)“, ““Fiat Gold” / Fool’s Gold (May 2, 2011)” and “Is The Gold Standard Really The Gold Standard? (January 18, 2010).”

Bumper stickers of the week:

He who has the dollars has made the rules; he who has the gold will make the rules.

Folks (and governments) will use Fe and Pb to acquire and protect Au and Ag.

We seek stasis, we get entropy.

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World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014)

Posted in China, Dollar - World's Reserve Currency, Energy, Fracking, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Market Solutions, Peak Oil, Russia on September 8, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

7          “Someday someone will realize that the attacks on Saddam Hussein in Iraq and on Muammar Gaddafi in Libya were motivated in part by their efforts to undertake oil sales in something other than American dollars.  If the American dollar is no longer the world’s petro dollar and reserve currency, America will not be able to dictate and drive world economic affairs.  America wants Europe to be dependent on America and American gas and on the American dollar, not on Russia and Russian gas and on some financial measure and medium other than the American dollar.  And along comes Putin who is peddling oil and gas using something other than the American dollar.”

8          “That makes Putin ‘Public Enemy No. 1.’  So the U.S. is imposing economic sanctions on the Russians which are also economic sanctions on the Europeans and others.  The only way for the U.S. to compel continued use of the petro dollar is to be the empire providing, controlling and protecting the petro supply.  Now the U.S. is trying to provide rather than just control and protect the supply.  For decades, the U.S. imported oil and gas from countries that disregarded environmental standards and now the U.S. is disregarding environmental standards and seeking to export gas produced using fluids and processes that are destructive to the land and water here in the good old U.S. of A.  What are we doing?”

7          “America is on the retrograde in overdrive.  Until recently, America ‘imported’ oil and ‘exported’ the pollution necessary to produce it.  Now America seeks to ‘export’ gas and ‘import’ the pollution and degradation necessary to produce it.  Pollution and degradation are externalities that are not paid by the oil and gas companies.  If the oil and gas companies internalized the costs of the pollution and degradation, they could pass the costs on to the consumer and allow the consumer to decide how much oil and gas should be produced.”

8          “And look at those we call our allies.  Among other countries, Britain, France, Poland and Bulgaria are refusing to embrace fracking and the resulting environmental damage.  U.S. interests are interested in obtaining access to the gas reserves in the Ukraine and using fracking techniques to extract the gas.  The lawyers and the lobbyists have been deployed.  The sons of the Ruling Class like Kerry-Heinz and Biden are positioned and poised to make a killing.”

7          “Only after many others get killed.  America cannot secure and dictate the distribution of the gas to Europe and others as quickly as Russia and Europe will be required to respond to the economic sanctions.  Russia and Russians are much more resilient and resourceful than America and Americans.  The Russians won World War II for the West.  Starting World War III with them is not likely to end well.  The Russians will develop workarounds to circumvent the economic sanctions and may dislodge the almighty dollar from the world stage.”

8          “The Europeans also need to learn to accommodate, but they could balk this winter at freezing to fuel the U.S. dollar.”

7          “They could sew American dollars together to make a shawl.  Americans devised ‘Hoover blankets’ from newspapers and Europeans could craft ‘Benjamin blankets’ from American bucks.  No one will strenuously dispute that it is or soon will be ‘Cold War 2.0’.”

8          “The Chinese may break the tie.  China and Russia and other countries could work together to circumvent the sanctions and develop a competing and competitive international economy devoid of the dollar.  Russia could provide China with access to the Arctic and allow them to proceed in the South China Sea.”

7          “Then America would boycott all Chinese goods.  See how they like that.”

8          “A friend is convinced that all the gold in Ft. Knox and all of Germany’s gold in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was transferred to the Chinese to stave off a sale of Treasury bonds.  They may be prepared.  The economic sanctions are seen as exercises of ‘soft power,’ yet they may expose how soft the American economy really is today.”

7          “That is why so many powerful interests are lobbying so aggressively for the U.S. to use ‘hard power.’  Wars are big business; wars are good for business.  Look at all the misinformation involving the attack on the aircraft flying on flight MH17 that is bandied about to justify military action.  False Flag capers are the easiest way to get the populace to rally ‘round the flag.”

8          “Here there be dragons.”

. . .

8          “Here there be no angels.  The Russian oligarchs who control the gas fields are as corrupt as the U.S. bankers who control oil and gas prices.  Look at the shenanigans and manipulations during the summer of 2008.  No one does anything.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Strategy: Cut off your face to spit your face

Dollar slaves; Dollar serfs

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Fukushima Daiichied (March 12, 2012)

Posted in Economics, Energy, Environment, Food, Gas/Fossil Fuel, Global Climate Change, Global Warming, Japan, Peak Oil, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty on March 12, 2012 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Cs          “They aren’t telling us anything.”

Sr          “They aren’t tellin’ us nothin’.”

Cs          “The great flotilla of death is floating east to the West Coast from the Far East.  The Pacific is now a polluted pond.”

Sr          “It’s in the air.  An air raid.  That’s the overriding problem.  Death from above.”

Cs          “The only thing the authorities can do is the only thing the authorities do.”

Sr          “Lie.  The official language of government and industry.  The problem is so overwhelming that there may be nothin’ that can be done.”

Cs          “What do you tell a populace that is already angry, broken, confused, desperate, enervated, and frustrated.”

Sr          “And bitter, cynical and distrustful.”

Cs          “The energy source designed to transition us from fossil fuels to renewable energy blew up on us in a day.”

Sr          “We are so Fukushima Daiichied.”

. . .

[http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/nuclear/2012/Fukushima/Lessons-from-Fukushima.pdf]

Bumper stickers of the week:

3/11

Fukushima Daiichied Again

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Our “Fiat Future” (June 13, 2011)

Posted in "Fiat ______", Banks and Banking System, Debt/Deficits, Economics, Gold Standard, Peak Land, Peak Oil, Spending on June 13, 2011 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Y          “So we live in an economy driven by ‘fiat money.’  Should we use the money to buy a Fiat car?  You know it is an acronym for ‘Fix It And Trade’?”

X          “Our fiat currency rolls along, but it is not a convertible vehicle.  I would like to fix it and trade, but we are just trading it.  A ’fiat’ is an order and a directive.  The United States Government orders and directs the citizens to accept ‘fiat money’ or ‘fiat currency’ or ‘fiat dollars’ for ‘for all debts public and private.’  The order and directive are backed by the ‘full faith and credit’ of the United States Government.  See, no worries.”

Y          “But I’m worried.  The credit of the United States government on paper is non-existent.  Why take its paper?  Who has even ‘half faith’ in its credit?”

X          “Only fools and citizens.  Only you and me.”

Y          “Why have faith when the empirical evidence is so clear and so clearly to the contrary?”

X          “Think about it this way.  I will accept the dollar if and because you will accept the dollar.”

Y          “Well then I will accept the dollar if and because you will accept the dollar.”

X          “That is the rationale.  It has worked and it works, but it may not work.  I don’t know if I want to accept the dollar.”

Y          “If you want to get rid of them, I will take them off your hands.”

X          “I will use them for the time being if and because you will accept them.  Half of the physical dollars are in circulation outside the United States and serve as the de facto currency in some countries and regions.  At the same time, the banks and financial institutions in America may have one tenth of one percent of the physical dollars necessary to cover the deposits in the banks and financial institutions.  Our fractional-reserve banking system is fractured, but it has not yet fractured.  A run on the banks, for rational reasons or irrational whims, would confirm what no one denies.”

Y          “So is the refusal to raise the debt ceiling a rational or an irrational triggering event?”

X          “An understandable reaction, but an irrational and dangerous response.  In a country awash in electronic dollars, there are no real dollars and not even enough fake dollars.  When the populace resorts to gold, everyone will discover that it is ‘fiat gold’ even if we are not ordered and directed by the government to accept it.”

Y          “The government took gold out of the equation decades ago.  And if you want to get rid of any gold, by the way, I will take it off your hands.”

X          “Others have put their full faith and credit in gold.  And then fail to see the irony in denominating the value of gold in . . . ‘fiat dollars.’”

Y          “So the dollar is not backed by gold, but gold is backed by dollars.”

X          “Seems to be.  However, there is no fiat bread.”

Y          “So when everyone realizes that the government ‘bread’ is stale, we will yearn for real bread.” 

X          “Bread is the real bread.  But we can’t print it.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Bake Bread

Know how to bake bread

He Who Has The Gold Makes The Rules

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U.S.A. 1945 – 2005 R.I.P. (August 16, 2010)

Posted in Economics, Military, Peak Oil, Society on August 16, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The last three score years have been a remarkable run in the history of mankind.  Sixty years of unprecedented growth and prosperity in America.  The Great Expansion was unique because the bounty was spread widely among the American populace.  The Middle Class was created in a young country built by indentured servants, former serfs and slaves.  Yet things have been declining particularly during the Decadent Decade.”

J          “Look at the score.  There are too many strip malls, too many strip mines and too many strip joints.”

K          “During that period of time, the America Experiment transitioned from a Republic to an Empire and is now transitioning to a post-Empire nation in a world of other rising powers and the emerging megamonopower in China.”

J          “America transitioned from a country to a market and from a search for the public weal to the aggregation of private wealth.  More affluence has only lead to more effluence.  A new pill that supplants natural processes and possibly saves a few hundred lives is produced in a factory that maims, cripples and kills thousands downstream from the outflow.  Prosperity came at a great cost.”

K          “We went to the Moon in ’69.  Geopolitics aside, that was quite a feat with many ancillary benefits.”

J          “And back on Earth the next year we challenged the assumptions and consequences on Earth Day.”

K          “Thinking progressed.”

J          “We conquered consumption, yet consumption conquered us.  We as a society need an antibiotic to protect us against our consuming consumption.  Those who say that small is beautiful today are not proclaiming a goal but rather are predicting the future.  But we as a country will not voluntarily downsize, we will be downsized.”

K          “Americans have not had to deal with any privation and are not emotionally prepared to deal with declining economic opportunity.  When we were prosperous, we were generous; as America’s fortunes decline, we are becoming hard-fisted and mean spirited.  The next decade will be ugly.”

J          “America’s military mission will need to downsize significantly to follow America’s changing role and options.  The real battle continues today on the battlefield of global climate change.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Question consumption

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