Author Archives: energyskeptic

Cost of Invasive Species in the United States

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

[ My note: It’s been 15 years since this paper was written, yet it is so thorough and well-written that it stands up well today and still cited by thousands of other papers as the best estimate of what invasive … Continue reading →

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Garrett Hardin: POPULATION: BIGGER IS LESS FREE

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

Recently the BIB school of population pundits— “Bigger is Better” — has become noisier. That bigger is not always better is known to everyone with eyes and a memory. An expanding population erodes individual freedom. The freedom  people had to … Continue reading →

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David Pimentel: Last orders please … room is running out at the global dinner table

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

Last orders please … room is running out at the global dinner table by Dr David Pimentel, professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University, New York, Sydney Morning Herald, 12/07/2002, p 11, edited transcript of two speeches given … Continue reading →

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The congressional report on “The Financial Crisis” and what happened

Posted on March 11, 2014 by

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report. Final Report of the national Commission on the Causes of the Financial and Economic Crisis in the United States 2011. Phil Angelides Chairman, Brooksley Born Commissioner, Senator Bob Graham Commissioner, etc. This is the best … Continue reading →

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Republicans have righteous minds? Really? Book review of the “Righteous Mind”

Posted on March 9, 2014 by

Preface. Although I liked this book, I found other books on far better and more profound. Garcia and Shermer deal with humanity as a species (Tomasello too, but he is hard to read and repetitious, find a book review), and … Continue reading →

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A financial crash would stop new oil production, sending us over the net energy cliff with a 10% decline rate per year

Posted on March 5, 2014 by

Gail Tverberg’s March 4, 2014 “Reasons for our Energy Predicament – an overview” gave me this sudden insight: There is the potential for a sudden drop of 10 to 30% in oil production.  That magnitude of world-wide oil shocks would … Continue reading →

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Credit Rating Agencies gave bad debt AAA ratings

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

How banks gamed the rating system from biz.yahoo.com April 2008 Triple-A Failure Nothing sent the [credit ratings] agencies into high gear as much as the development of structured finance. As Wall Street bankers designed ever more securitized products — using … Continue reading →

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Bernie Madoff

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

The Day the Earth Went Broke. 2008. Byron King   whiskeyandgunpowder.com What if you woke up one day and there was a flying saucer sitting in the middle of Central Park? It would change your view of the world, if not … Continue reading →

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Experts who aren’t worried about Inflation

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

Paul Krugman: The Inflation Obsession. March 2, 2014. New York Times. [modified: both paraphrased and cut] Recently the Federal Reserve released transcripts of its monetary policy meetings during the fateful year of 2008. And, boy, are they discouraging reading because … Continue reading →

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Nature : Hydrocarbons and the evolution of human culture

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

Hydrocarbons and the evolution of human culture Charles Hall et al. 20 NOVEMBER 2003     NATURE. VOL 426 Most of the progress in human culture has required the exploitation of energy resources. About 100 years ago, the major source of energy … Continue reading →

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