gwd

You know, I'm one of the selfish car free people. It just seemed in my best interest. The peak-oilers and global warmers have some imaginative and interesting posts here but those issues seem tangential and predicting the future seems like a game for losers. Some of the news just doesn't make sense. There seems to be a consensus that corn based ethanol is one direct cause of food price inflation. It was easy enough to start down that path so why not just back up and stop the subsidies? Or are food riots a good thing in the global capitalism perspective? Hungry people are more dangerous than starving people aren't they?
Isn't it a recipe for disaster to have interest rates way below inflation rates? Won't it drive people into debt because the rational decision in such a scenario is to borrow money at the low rate to buy durable goods with a cost that increases beyond the borrowing rate? But the response to rising oil prices has been to deny inflation and lower interest rates. Just a few years ago I had a sense that frugal living isolated me from the consumerist madness but it is looking like there can be some nasty spillover- like the peak-oilers were right but the government policies are making it worse not better.