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Reader's Journal and Dow-Oil Ratio (July 31, 2007) At long last I have updated Reader's Journal. The range of topics covered by readers is amazing and fun to read; as a bonus, there are several book and film recommendations, and thoughtful ideas galore. Here is a quick listing: Harun I. Financial Risks, Hedge Funds, parasitic subsidization of the wealthy's failed financial adventures Bill Murath Peak Oil, Disposable Houses Don E. Overbuilding, leadership Lloyd L. Public Pension COLAs Peter J. G. Retail space, US and Europe Matt S. The Fourth Turning (Matt recommended the book to me) UKC blissful ignorance, faith in a technical fix Kip S. Peak Oil, Cheap Oil Paul M. The Key to Good Health That No One Is Talking About Michael Goodfellow Income Inequality History of Transportation, The Pursuit of Glory (book) Fred Roper Parallels between 1929 and 2007 Mega The 70s Redux: oil shortages, rising crime and more Zeus Y. Black Swan, what we already know but are desperately trying to escape Albert T. Struggle between capital / labor, inflationary pressure Helen The Crude Awakening Riley T. Soylent Green Fastwater Theology and self-serving government There are three important essays: One on the a priori connection between cheap oil and cheap food, another on The Great Unraveling, and an incisive satire from ever-reliable satirist Protagoras skewering Total Quality Management (TQM), the bane of large organizations. Peak Oil and Soil by Eric Andrews The Great Unraveling by Chuck D. The TQM Diet (satire) by Protagoras We also have a new Black Swan haiku from UKC: Said the grasshopper to the ant, winter is but a once in a lifetime event and hence improbable. (Hang on, can the title be longer than the haiku?) first frost of autumn touches the butterflies wing once in a lifetime Lastly, we puncture the heavily-hyped illusion so beloved of foaming-at-the-mouth TV pundits--that the Dow Jones Industrials reached a "new high" in value rather than in just name-- with a chart submitted by frequent contributor Harun I. This charts the ratio of the DJI and light Crude oil. Note that when oil was cheap and the DJI high in 1999, the ratio spiked. Thought the DJI is much higher in nominal terms, we can see that in terms of purchasing power of energy, it is pathetically low. As the bumper sticker says: Don't believe everything you think. 
For more on this subject and a wide array of other topics, please visit my weblog. 
copyright © 2007 Charles Hugh Smith. All rights reserved in all media. I would be honored if you linked this wEssay to your site, or printed a copy for your own use.
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