The Challenge of High Priced Oil

Abstract:     
My thesis is that the conventional notion that the United States or any other nation can improve its economic output by following a high intensity, low efficiency fossil fuel development path is no longer viable. I suggest that to reject this statement is akin to believing, as in the fable, that the naked emperor is clothed. World market conditions and long term energy trends do not support any reasonable expectation that oil prices will appreciably drop for any sustained period of time. On the contrary, all indications point to a steady, inevitable rise, interrupted by short term, possibly extreme, price spikes, followed by modest price drops.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 3

Keywords: oil prices, energy, environmental law

JEL Classification: K32, Q40

Accepted Paper Series