It has now become more fashionable to talk about shortages. Computer chips have been in shortage and then in glut in the last few years. Natural gas was acutely in shortage in Europe after the war in Ukraine and pipeline sabotage brought supplies from Russia down to a trickle. Then, heroic efforts at conservation and in obtaining liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Europe led to a dramatic reduction in price. But last week just the potential for labor strikes among LNG workers in Australia, a major LNG exporter, sent the European price spiking again.
The world seemed so well supplied with everything in the previous decade that the shortages of this decade seem shocking to those with memories that do not extend further back than 2010.
But in what is actually recent memory, we have examples. It was the mid-2000s that brought us spiking food prices. Now they are rising again. It also brought us the highest price ever for a barrel of oil. Now oil prices are elevated again. Metals prices rose. Now they are again.
The general view is that shortages and high prices are the cure for shortages and high prices. And, there is some truth in that because high prices incentivize more people to produce more of the stuff that carries a high price. But when prices are rising in general it is difficult for miners, growers and manufacturers to address prices everywhere at once. There is only so much capital for investment. That is why eras of rising prices can go on for some time before they are resolved.
But what if some critical resources won’t yield to the logic of modern economics? What if that logic only works in a world of growing extraction of cheap resources? What if the price of extracting ever leaner grades of metals, harvesting ever more grains and fiber from farm fields losing topsoil that is already saturated with as much fertilizer as plants can absorb, pumping ever more water from falling water tables and dwindling streams and reservoirs—what if we simply cannot afford all this on a wide scale? The answer is that extraction somewhere will fail to keep pace with what people would otherwise demand, and then standards of living would fall.
I return to helium as a harbinger of what is unfolding. Back in 2009 I suggested that the world was heading toward an acute helium shortage. Granted, the world helium market was dominated at the time by the U.S. government and its Federal Helium Program which gathered the richest sources of helium in the world. The government decided in the 1920s that helium was such a critical resource that it would manage it for national security reasons. (For why it’s hard to find substitutes for helium see my 2009 piece.) Then in 1996 the U.S. Congress decided the federal government should get out of the helium business and let the marketplace set prices and seek out new supplies.
The process of exiting the helium market is near completion. The government has stopped selling helium. Now, the supposed rush is on among private companies to find and produce the helium the world needs. There are companies now doing that.
Prices of helium are spiking and helium is getting harder to secure in the meantime. The problem is so acute that scientists who need helium for all kinds of research are having a hard time getting it. And some are calling for the U.S. government to remain in the helium business in order to assure supplies are available for research facilities including its own.
Another example of an emerging pattern is the rice market. In many countries, the supplies of basic foodstuffs are managed by governments to help avoid food shortages. In Asia rice prices are at or near all time highs. India, the world’s largest rice exporter, has already instituted some restrictions on the export of rice. The fear is that other countries will follow. The reason is simple: There is no better way to insure that the ruling party will be thrown out of office than food shortages. Keeping more food at home keeps prices down.
Part of the reason for rice’s production woes is a strong El Nino negatively affecting weather for Asian growers. And the strong El Nino is starting when global ocean temperatures are already high, meaning the effect of the El Nino will be greatly enhanced by climate change compared to previous decades.
Helium and rice are two example of shortages that cannot simply be addressed by “the market.” (I put “the market” in quotes because there are very few true free markets. Most markets are carefully managed by the largest players.) A combination of government and private action is being coordinated for goals that take social priorities into account as is the case with rice or as is being requested in the case of helium.
Focusing on profitability alone will lead to rampant, accelerated pressures on resources—which is how we got to where we are today. More of the same won’t solve the long-term problems related to limits on key resources.
Kurt Cobb is a freelance writer and communications consultant who writes frequently about energy and environment. His work has appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Resilience, Common Dreams, Naked Capitalism, Le Monde Diplomatique, Oilprice.com, OilVoice, TalkMarkets, Investing.com, Business Insider and many other places. He is the author of an oil-themed novel entitled Prelude and has a widely followed blog called Resource Insights. He can be contacted at kurtcobb2001@yahoo.com.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 11:27 am
I was happy before.
our supertards worship MUZZ-19 like they worship a phallus and that took them to SAINT PETERS the AI Bots (eee TheEdrich others) owned by DROPOUT-19 and supremacist muzies refuse to say anything about any of this this is horrific on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 12:48 pm
everything is about phallus to them
they worship the supremacist muzzie phallus
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
mere one year ago this place was chockful of phallus AKA MUZZ-19 worshipping supertards now all we have are AI Bots (eee TheEdrich others) who are owned and operated by supremacist muzzies and DROPOUT-19 this is horrific HORRIFIC on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 12:51 pm
it’s about phallus worshipping
it’s about supremacist muzzie lovin’
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 12:51 pm
The best thing that could happen to me, is for this web site to go offline forever. Do it.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:01 pm
What about a shutdown of the worldwide electrical grid. If I can give people long neck, I should be able to shutdown the worldwide electrical with my mind. Ok I demanded to shutdown the worldwide electrical network.
Let’s move forward and kill all the population of earth. You should have changed the Canada firearms laws. Now it is too late I deeply hate Canada and Québec for working with the enemy. Fucking losers from Québec and Canada. Fucking submissive pathetic losers of Québec and Canada, You are unworthy of good leadership,
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:21 pm
I will piss and shit in your decapitated head piece of shit Legault after the populace kill you, fucking piece of shit trash with your gun registry.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:34 pm
I think the Cabal outside of earth and inside of earth have lost total control of the events.
I was their last hope, the best they could do is upset me. Only people that will leave earth will live.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:39 pm
The cabal lost total control of earth. Their simulation is over. Event will take a chaotic courses now
worshipping of the MUZZ-19 phallus and supremacist muzzie phalus has got it here and took our supertards to SAINT PETERS AI Bots (eee TheEdrich others) are not going to save us just like that our supertards are POOF on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:39 pm
gone HORRIFIC
HORRIFIC
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
supremacist muzzies Ramadan Bombathon 2020 final score attacks 175 Kills 718 HORRIFIC GONE SAINT PETERS on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 1:41 pm
HORRIFIC
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 2:37 pm
The whole population of earth will die, your whole family will die piece of shit Legault, your whole family will die TurdDope. You are unworthy of life. GOD and I will dance over the cadavers of the whole population of earth.
I will shit in your decapitated head piece of shit Legault. You love your gun registry you can have it fucking loser.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 3:20 pm
You can currently see the reality disintegrating. Every people on the web or in real life has a long neck or a face moved forward. Eventual the reality will shutdown as long neck people will cause internal conflicts inside the reality: conflict with the book of human anatomy, conflicts with laws of physics, conflicts with the stress analysis law or mechanical engineering, and so on.
failure to amputate elite whitey supertard thunderf00t is causing all this disappearance of supertards due to MUZZ-19 WENT TO SAINT PETERS ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 3:41 pm
HORRIFIC
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
the AI Bots (eee TheEdrich others) tell us disappearance of PO forum supertards is just POOF normal nothing to see here thats HORRIFIC this is robots war we are being told theres nothing unusual MUZZ-19 HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 4:28 pm
someone is filthy rich selling bridges in Brooklyn
HORRIFIC
HORRIFIC ENTIRE SUPERTARDS JUST DONT GO POOF
HORRIFIC
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
eeee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 5:17 pm
I will shit in your decapitated head Legault, I will take pleasure doing it, fucking loser, fucking loser working with the enemy, Are you propound of you, are you proud of your gun registry, fucking loser.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 5:24 pm
As soon as the conditions are there: I will try to shutdown permanently Québec electrical grid. Waiting, for lacking of Hydro-Québec repair service trucks because of the lack of diesel mechanics, waiting of the lack of policemen’s on the road because of the lack of police cars because of the lack of car mechanics. I will make you Legault, Québec and Canada pay for that.
Québec will pay for working with enemy to step on my rights to buy a firearms incognito. You will die fucking piece of shit Legault.
guess what happens when elite master race chink supertards are sick of supremacist muzzies A Uyghur mother pleaded for her detained son. Now she’s missing, too on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 6:08 pm
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
supremacist muzzies On This Day... Aug 29 2012: Thailand Yala 1 0 A Buddhist trader sitting in his truck is shot and beheaded by Muslim militants RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 7:19 pm
guess what happens when PO forum supertards worshiping the supremacist muzzie phallus and the MUZZ-19 phallus MUZZ-19 themselves with reckless abandonment
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 7:42 pm
I saw a fourteen year old whore walking by my car in the dark corner of the park lot. I had a fantaisie to rape her. Is that bad or good.
I read somewhere, that some human will have their DNA change to some kind of silicate/silicone DNA. It would make sense, you could vibrate at difference frequencies and catch all kind of signal invisible to the regulator people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_oscillator
I can see the illusion almost everywhere I go now.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 7:57 pm
I see the illusion where ever I go. I will most likely leave earth, they have invested so much time in me. You, piece of shit Legault will die here for working with the enemy. If I can I will shit in your skull before I leave for stomping om my right to won a firearms incognito. Pathetic Canada and Québec managed by losers elites that are always there to take you right away.
ee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 8:03 pm
You should have killed all the jews of the world when i asked
rrr on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 8:25 pm
Legault and trudeau, twos garbages that I will obn and shit on
eeeee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 8:35 pm
You fucking lying piece of crap. BS with the Chrétien story and the knife. Stop with your fucking BS. I will set Canada and Québec in fire, mother fucker. I walk over all of cadaver before I leave earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW3DX9J3HVM
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 8:41 pm
I will set Canada and Québec in Fucking fire. I will decapitate all Canadians people heads and float them 10 feets in air while you are still brain conscious fucking piece. DO you hear me Legault and Trudeau..
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 9:22 pm
More death threat I throw around more crazy they are becoming. Look at the thumbnail of these videos.
https://www.youtube.com/@ForbesBreakingNews/videos
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 9:28 pm
It is fucking freak show out there, in real life and on the internet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4ckVFQIUn0
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 9:37 pm
Imagine how they would freak out if you change the firearms laws and remove all the laws and allow to pay cash incognito for your firearms. Imagine two minutes.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 9:43 pm
Total clown show out there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hautF7y18uk
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 10:03 pm
Bathing suit has been update. It it more provocative then before. Green bathing suit at 0:47
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6buJQEF-vc
guess what happens when elite master race chink supertards got sick of supremacist muzzies THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 10:56 pm
In May, the deposed Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang met with his Taliban counterpart and pressured him to address Beijing’s security concerns and for more direct action on Uyghur groups operating from Afghanistan.
guess what happens when elite whitey supertard France got sick of supremacist muzzies riotting on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 11:07 pm
France to ban the wearing of abayas in schools, fueling accusations of
THAT MFER IS NOT REAL ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE SHOCK
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 11:36 pm
1:23:07 long neck. This movie help me fall asleep. I use it as background noise. The movie has been updated with long neck and face moved forward.
https://bflix.to/movie/free-riddick-hd-8vq/1-1
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 11:43 pm
Just a fucking simulation. I want firearm to shoot them to see if they die and to see how they bleed to death.
eee on Tue, 29th Aug 2023 11:53 pm
The other day, there were a Indian women from India with two kids at the grocery store. All of them had long necks, I wanted to kill them to see if they are really alive. Give me firearms, we will push earth investigation forward by killing some of them.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:02 am
I have to look more into it, but long neck are impossible if you believe the of mechanical engineering, I don’t know what they are but they are not alive. You are not killing anything valuable when you are killing them
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:33 am
Long necks are everywhere. They are not real. It is time to kill some of them and do an autopsy on them. A autopsy will give me access to how the biological life calculator works. They are just robot repeating the life story loaded in them. They
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjHinnC1xCE
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 1:01 am
They are everywhere, long necks and face moved forward. They are not real, they are some kind of primitive simulation elements. It is time to kill some of them, make an autopsy and compare the result with what is being though in the anatomy books.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqzkiVf1Uwc
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 2:28 am
these fucking long necks and face moved forward are everywhere. We have to kill some of them and run autopsy on them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjY2M3mJCtg
They use democracy to push their agenda and conquer earth.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 2:37 am
They are fucking everywhere. It is just a simulation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MFHw4RiYrY
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:06 am
Just long neck, come pick up the real humans and move them somewhere else. It is over for earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI7UZBNP8lI
ANAL on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 8:03 am
guess what happened when elite whitey supertard Ashley Summers Indiana MUZZ-19 herself with reckless abandonment
THAT MFER IS NOT REAL
this is what elite whitey supertard Bobby Coder said after he MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment ANAL PROLAPSE CAPTURE on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 8:07 am
I took the vaccine I took the Booster, four months later I came down with Covid-19. Since the I have had 34 blood clot. Twenty 6 removed, and the rest being dissolved by Eliques blood thinner which is $850.00 a month if you don’t have really good insurance. A total of $467,00.00 in medical costs so far. Someone got rich off this BS. NEVER AGAIN!!!
guess what happens when PO forum supertards worship the MUZZ-19 phallus and supremacist muzzies phallus on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 8:11 am
AI Bots (eee TheEdrich others) owned by DROPOUT-19 and supremacist muzzies
that’s what happened
THAT MFER IS NOT REAL
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:33 am
You should have killed all the Jews of the world when I asked you.
Inviting SOuth Korea and Japan prmim minister in the US was a bad idea.
I will shutdown Québec electrical grid when the time is right because Québec and Canada stomp on my right to own firearms incognito.
I will never help or save Québec and Canada because of Canada firearms law. They both work with the enemy to subject earth. Québef guns registry prove that Québec is working with the underworld people in order to facilitate Québec invasion.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:38 am
I will shit in your fake CGI head before I leave earth piece of shit Legault.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:52 am
I will kill all the population of earth and walk over all cadavers beffore I die or leave earth. I will set Québec in fire.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:53 am
I will kill your children and your wife in front of you piece of shit Legault for stomping on my right to own firearm incognito.
supremacist muzzies On This Day...Aug. 30 2011: Chechnya Grozny 9 22 Three suicide bombers detonate among bustling street crowd, killing nine. on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 11:24 am
guess what happens when elite master race chink supertards are sick of supremacist muzzies
guess what happen when elite whitey supertard France is sick of supremacist muzzies
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 11:27 am
I will destroy your whole planet and kill everyone living on earth. After I will try to kill the bitch and everyone outside of earth responsible for my faith. Kill me now because I am not goint to spare you where ever you are located inside of earth or outside of earth.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 11:56 am
I dare you to censor me and close your website so I can get my old life back. censor me, I want my old life back. Censor me fucking loser.