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 Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:10 pm
I dare you to close this shit website and censor me for eternity. Do it fucking loser.
eeeeeeeeeee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:14 pm
I dare you to shutdown the whole internet and censor me and the world for ever. I dare you to shutdown the world wide internet netword for ever.
Do it if you have fucking and shutdown the whole world now by shutting down the internet, I dare you to be a real man
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:16 pm
I dare you to shutdown the whole world by shutting down the world wide internet. I know you can shutdown the internet from the outside of earth, do it
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:18 pm
Kill everyone on the planet by shutting down permanently the world wide internet. I know you can do it, if you are living outside of earth reality. Fuck over these mother fucker, make them suffer.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:21 pm
What are they going to do, you are not living on planet earth, kill everyone, shutdown the internet of the whole planet
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:24 pm
Shutting down the world wide internet is like turning off trade of the whole planet, shutdown the whole internet down, I know you control the internet of the world, shut it down and planetary trade will stop forever.
I dare you to censor me. fucking do it
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:26 pm
I have a big headache now, are we shutting down the whole world internet network, lets kill all the fuckers of planet earth.
rrr on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:31 pm
I know it is easier for you to shutdown the whole world internet network then it is to shutdown the whole world electrical grid.
That could be a way for me to stay on earth and still have electricity, we stop planetary trade by shutting down the internet world wide. It is like killing everyone but keeping the electrical grid alive.
What do you think bitch.é
It feel like I might leave earth right now or die right now. I have already won, you have already lost
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:36 pm
Once everyone is dead because you shut down the internet, I can get all the firearm I want to going directly to the police station and taking what I want.
What bitch, you say, you love torturing these piece of shit with long neck,
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:37 pm
You should be more afraid of my bitch then me.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:38 pm
You love my idea of the long neck, now you know who to torture and kill.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:41 pm
MY bitch will deal with you and the population of earth. Look what is going on in florida right now. This is my bitch torturing and killing you.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 12:51 pm
This is what I want. We need to kill the long neck. They are useless simulation element. I have sow myself some knife chest harness. Maybe I should sell them.
https://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Mikes-Off-Duty-Concealment-Horizontal/dp/B000K51W5C/ref=sr_1_24?keywords=knife%2Bshoulder%2Bharness&qid=1693417741&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-24&th=1
supremacist muzzies On This Day...Aug. 30 2022: DRC Ituri 14 0 A dozen more civilians are cut down by ADF Islamists. on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 1:17 pm
Quran (9:111) – “Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.” How does the Quran define a true believer?
ANAL On This Day... Aug 30, 2014: Gwoza, Nigeria People in a Christian town are slaughtered "like chickens": 40 Killed on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 1:32 pm
Quran (17:16) – “And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.” Note that the crime is moral transgression, and the punishment is “utter destruction.” (Before ordering the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden first issued Americans an invitation to Islam).
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:10 pm
I am not going to be on earth forever. My hands look fake now,
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:14 pm
I guess all the population of earth will die, as soon as I leave earth. I might not be able to kill piece of shit Legault. I will kill piece of shit Legault from outside the earth.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:16 pm
I will still kill you piece of shit Legault, I will do it from outside the earth reality
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:20 pm
You are on kill list piece of shit Legault and Canada for working with the enemy to restrict firearms purchases. I will destroy Canada form outside earth reality
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:26 pm
If I cannot shutdown Québec lectical fromt he inside of earth, I will do it once I am out of earth.
I will kill you, and your family piece of shit Legault, same for TrudDope. I will set Québec in fire for stomping on mh right to buy firearms incognito.
I will be back for you piece of shit Legault.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:35 pm
You should have killed all the JEWS of the world when I asked you. You love your Jews, you can have your Jews
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:38 pm
I will kill you from outside earth reality. I will torture you so good, piece of shit Legault.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 3:43 pm
I will destroy Québec and Canada from outside of earth, for working with the enemy to restrict firearms and hands guns. The destruction of Québec and Canada will be my personal pet project.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:03 pm
You love submitting yourself to women piece of shit Legault, you are just a pathetic loser.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:07 pm
If I cannot kill all of you while on earth, I will kill all of you once I am outside of earth reality. I will come back to destroy earth and all its population. I will come back.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:15 pm
If I cannot do what I want inside of earth, I will do it outside. I will come back to destroy nQuébec and Canada and kill politicians
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:17 pm
Ostie de criss de tabernacle d’illusions. Je vais revenir pour toi Legault, Trudeau, Charest, Chrétien, Mulroney, Doug Ford.
ee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:54 pm
Is it time for me to go. I am ready to leave or to die. Let,s get the fuck out of here. I will come back for all of you .
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 4:57 pm
I will go back to bed. Ready to leave, I will kill them all later on.
EEE on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 5:04 pm
I will be back for you Legaut, , charest, chretien, mulroney, Desmarais, Peladeauy, I will be back to finish Québec and CANADA
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 5:14 pm
I feel drunk, I think it is the anti pain medication that GOD gave me, so they could accelerate my body update. I feel like I took drug but I did not. I will come back for you Legault, Trudeau, Charest, I will come back to destroy Québec and Canada make an example of eberyone to see.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 5:17 pm
I have win, you have lost. You should have klled all the jews of the world when I asked, stupid suckers.
eee on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 5:19 pm
You are all going to die, stupid piece of shit, all of you.
ANAL PROLAPSE on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:36 pm
supremacist muzzies
Quran (25:52) – “Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness with it.” – The root for Jihad is used twice in this verse – although it may not have been referring to Holy War when narrated, since it was prior to the hijra at Mecca. The “it” at the end is thought to mean the Quran. Thus the verse may have originally meant a non-violent resistance to the ‘unbelievers.’ Obviously, this changed with the hijra. ‘Jihad’ after this is almost exclusively within a violent context. The enemy is always defined as people, rather than ideas.
SHOCKER: ANAL CAPTURE on Wed, 30th Aug 2023 10:39 pm
supremacist muzzies
Quran (9:73) – “O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.” Dehumanizing those who reject Islam, by reminding Muslims that unbelievers are merely firewood for Hell, makes it easier to justify slaughter. It explains why today’s devout Muslims generally have little regard for those outside the faith. The inclusion of “hypocrites” (non-practicing) within the verse also contradicts the apologist’s defense that the targets of hate and hostility are wartime foes, since there was never an opposing army made up of non-religious Muslims in Muhammad’s time. (See also Games Muslims Play: Terrorists Can’t Be Muslim Because They Kill Muslims for the role this verse plays in Islam’s perpetual internal conflicts).
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 12:06 am
The only things I would reuse about earth are the chemistry and math’s. I think they can be reuse to build a new reality. All the rest of earth is garbage and will be thrown away in the garbage can: flesh bodies, trees, soil, lands, mountains. I don’t need earth and I don’t want to work with earth,. I am not here to save you and I will save you or earth. You are not leaving earth you are dying here.
ANAL supremacist muzzie Jennifer W. Germany on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 1:33 am
sentence extended to 14 years
should’d been amputation of oposite side limbs
ANAL CAPTURE supremacist muzzies On This Day... Aug 31, 2010: Hebron, Israel A pregnant mother is among four Jewish persons shot at close range: 4 Killed on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 7:21 am
Quran (9:73) – “O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.” Dehumanizing those who reject Islam, by reminding Muslims that unbelievers are merely firewood for Hell, makes it easier to justify slaughter. It explains why today’s devout Muslims generally have little regard for those outside the faith. The inclusion of “hypocrites” (non-practicing) within the verse also contradicts the apologist’s defense that the targets of hate and hostility are wartime foes, since there was never an opposing army made up of non-religious Muslims in Muhammad’s time. (See also Games Muslims Play: Terrorists Can’t Be Muslim Because They Kill Muslims for the role this verse plays in Islam’s perpetual internal conflicts).
supremacist muzzies RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND THAT MFER IS NOT REAL on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 7:22 am
Quran (9:29) – “Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” “People of the Book” refers to Christians and Jews. According to this verse, they are to be violently subjugated, with the sole justification being their religious status. Verse 9:33 tells Muslims that Allah has instructed them to make Islam “superior over all religions.” This chapter was one of the final “revelations” from Allah and it set in motion the tenacious military expansion, in which Muhammad’s companions managed to conquer two-thirds of the Christian world in the next 100 years. Islam is intended to dominate all other people and faiths
guess what happens when elite master race chink supertards are sick of supremacist muzzies THAT MFER IS NOT REAL RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND ANAL CAPTURE PROLAPSE SHOCKER on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 7:24 am
HRW Says China Continues To Crush The Rights Of Uyghurs, Turkic Muslims
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said that China is continuing to violate the rights of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in its northwestern region of Xinjiang,…
.
4 hours ago
ANAL CAPTURE guess what happened when elite darkie supertard in Canada Sohrab Lutchmedial who MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 8:15 am
RICH MEN NORTH OF RICHMOND
ANAL PROLAPSE ELITE DARKIE SUPERTARD SOHRAB LUTCHMEDIA ANAL CAPTURE on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 10:17 am
this elite darkie supertard mocked american gun rights by calling it
antibody guns
he MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment
WENT TO SAINT PETERS
August is Celebrate Elite DArkie Supertard SOHRAB LUTCHMEDIA Month for his anti gun contribution to American LAW and society on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 10:52 am
we celebrate elite whitey (((supertard))) Alice for her contribution to 1A by restricting free speech
this elite darkie supertard mocked american gun rights by calling it
antibody guns
he MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment
WENT TO SAINT PETERS
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 2:35 pm
I was looking at the new f150 and GM pickup trucks. The hood is too high. Mechanics will refuse to work on such abomination. No mechanic will accept to work from small stool just to access the engine. We are so fucked that only people that will leave earth will live.
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 2:39 pm
I was at the grocery store today, I thought the ground under me was about to vanish and I was about to fall down in the void.
One of these days either I will die or leave earth.
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 2:52 pm
Once you lose the ability to easily fix your GM and Ford pickup truck, you lose all the ability to maintained your cities. Cities might stop functioning and become death trap just because of the lack of a decent pick up truck or the refusal by mechanics to work on them.
Only the people that will leave earth will live.
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 2:58 pm
In the case of Canada because of hand guns and firearms restriction, you made it impossible for guy me to take over and try to impose law and order by force.
Québec is death trap.
Only the people that will leave earth will live.
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 2:59 pm
In the case of Canada because of hand guns and firearms restriction, you made it impossible for guy like me to take over and try to impose law and order by force.
Québec is death trap.
Only the people that will leave earth will live.
eee on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 3:09 pm
It is kind of something specials to suicide oneself because you are stupid, so stupid that you could be categorized as mentally retarded.
Nobody is coming to save earth or the people of earth. Enough is enough of this crap.
Only the people that will leave earth will live.
Shocker: Anal procidat captis on Thu, 31st Aug 2023 3:57 pm
guess what happens when elite whitey supertards France got sick of supremacist muzzies
August is Celebrate Elite DArkie Supertard SOHRAB LUTCHMEDIA Month for his anti gun contribution to American LAW and society
we celebrate elite whitey (((supertard))) Alice for her contribution to 1A by restricting free speech
this elite darkie supertard mocked american gun rights by calling it
antibody guns
he MUZZ-19 himself with reckless abandonment
WENT TO SAINT PETERS