André Sautou

And You Think Today's Gas Prices Are High?

There is a major difference between 1929 and now : at that time many sectors of economy could be operated without cheap energy. Consider, for instance, agriculture : it mainly worked with human and animal labor. The average distance traveled by food, from producers to consumers, was small. Other features : in most houses, electricity was just used for light ; urban cities were not so big and heavily dependant on transportation ; our world had not yet become addicted to fast growth, as it is now (thanks to cheap energy) ; etc …etc …
Now, we are heavily dependant on cheap energy, and all features linked to such dependence will crumble down as energy prices get higher and higher.