by rangerone314 » Thu 07 May 2009, 15:49:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mos6507', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'm')os6507 I don't know how many times you have stated that the US housing crisis somehow managed to derail the entire world's economy simultaneously. Makes no sense.
That's because you refuse to let go of your peak oil bias.
To say that "the economy is propelled by cheap oil" is
not the same thing as claiming that the oil spike of 2008 caused the credit crisis. If we never had cheap oil, the world would be completely unrecognizable today. Such an observation should not be coopted to be able to prefix "peak oil caused the..." in front of every news story.
It's very simple really. Could the housing bubble have continued unabated had we not had the oil spike? Would homeowners have been able to avoid foreclosures after their ARMs reset? A few, perhaps, but not enough to stop the mortgage meltdown. It was
bound to pop like any other past bubble. The problems with the airlines, car sales, trucking, were there but they were NOT the main driver of the crash. People were being sold homes they never could afford. There was massive fraud all the way up the chain that enabled these loans to be certified and bundled into CDOs that blew up in the financial markets all over the globe. There is nothing about this crisis that
had to happen due to some kind of oil connection. It was a classic case of greed feeding on greed in a ponzi-like fashion.
If you can't see it, fine. But it's obvious to me. Too many peakers feel that they HAVE to rationalize oil as the "cause" of the credit crisis because otherwise peak oil takes a hibernation nap in the public consciousness as the price tanks. Don't believe something because it fits your strategic agenda. Believe it because it makes sense. Just because the economy can crash for reasons OTHER than peak oil doesn't mean peak oil doesn't exist or is inconsequential. Too many people have put peak oil up there as the penultimate reason for all doom and gloom. It's not that simple. The sad reality is that doom can come from multiple fronts. It doesn't
have to all lead back to oil. So try to snap out of your tunnel vision. Peak oil doom will come when it is good and ready and it will make the credit crisis feel like a cakewalk in comparison. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
It is very tiring having to fight this battle again and again but I understand that while oil remains cheap, beating the dead horse that "peak oil caused the credit crisis" is the only thing that seems to placate insecure peak oilers. But it is patented BS and I'm going to call it as I see it.
I'm with you on this one Mos, I've followed the tech stock bubble collapse & the rise of the housing bubble & then the rise of the oil/commodities bubble. Followed them for years. Each led to the rise of the other. Too much money chasing around looking for something to be invested in. The awareness of the housing bubble and how it related to the tech stock bubble is the reason I withdrew from the house search in 2005, despite agent saying its a great time to get a house, and the reason I waited until late in 2008 to buy a house.
I knew this was coming, and that is why I got a house in 2008, and is why in January 2007 I had all my 401K plan out of stocks and in money market/cash resrv. Used some of that preserved 401K money as downpayment on house.
This was not due to Peak Oil. When Peak Oil hits the economy full force, we will definitely NOT be arguing about whether it is PO doing it to the economy. After Peak Oil, the economy will be like a dead body laying on its back with an arrow in the chest - although I guess you could argue "Heart Failure" as cause of death.
Right now we are in a race, a race I don't think will be won, to convert over vehicles to feasible & practical electric before peak oil occurs (which it may already have -- unfortunately the decline in demand will probably mask peak oil if it has occured or does shortly)