Book review: Taking Jeff Rubin to task

It’s only nine pages in before author and former CIBC economist Jeff Rubin makes the startling admission that economics tells only half the story about resource scarcity and depletion. Fortunately, he immediately promises that the pages to follow will tell “the other half.” Unfortunately, he fails to deliver. So while still a fantastic book, Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller: Oil and the End of Globalization is simultaneously a frustrating read.

…The problem is Rubin never quite gets around to discussing how $150/barrel oil will affect us except to say that we will all have to consume less and in reduced variety. And there are a lot of people who won’t stand for that. What happens then? It’s the thorny question that can’t help but creep into the reader’s mind when faced with the starkness of Rubin’s analysis.

Without this level of analysis, the book never rises much past the level of highly competent pop culture screed, probably destined to compete ably against similar doomsday books. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but given the gravity of the consequences both mentioned and unmentioned, Your World needs to be so much more.

Canadian Business Online