you're right, we dont have a strict capitalist country. we actually have a psuedo fascist country where government and corporations are so intertwined you cant tell the difference anymore.
i think the larger point is that the behavior of the market you describe is what would happen on paper. but our economic theories haven't had to deal with the depletion fo the base resource that our economy has as its foundation.
-a person can predict whatever they want. but a geologist or group of geologists talking about geology is kind of trustworthy. if they're talking about peak oil then i think we should listen