"Energy in the Great Depression"

From AltEnergyStocks:

With the focus on the size of the ECB's balance sheet and eurozone bond auctions, it can be difficult to see the big picture of where this is going. Concerns about oil and climate change have taken a backseat to the foreboding sense of doom. To see the implications for energy it requires a look at the direction of the financial system.

In recent times every 40 years or so there has been an upheaval in the monetary system, as Philip Coggan explains in his excellent new book Paper Promises. The gold standard broke up during WWI, an attempt was made to reinstall it in the inter-war period, and then in 1944 the Bretton Woods system was introduced. America, as principal creditor, designed the system (although Keynes had some input). Bretton Woods broke down in 1971 due to America's trade imbalance when Germany, France and Switzerland demanded to convert their money into gold. For the past 40 years money (debt) creation has exploded, with the initial result epic inflation, followed by a stupid stock market bubble and a ridiculous housing boom, with debt increasing all the time as shown below:



Sources: Housing prices, CAPE, Interest rates: Robert Shiller; US Credit Market Debt - Fed flow of funds L1.

The music stops when American long term interest rates return to some semblance of normality due to a buyer's strike by external creditors. China, as principal creditor this time round, will get to call the shots for the new monetary system. This is likely to include capital controls, fixed exchange rates, and limits on current account imbalances. This will do away with much of Wall St. and the City. Not before time, you might say, with the bankers still unrepentant. The staff at Irish banks, which have cost Ireland 50% of GNP (American equivalent $7.5 trillion), have still not taken a pay cut. Contingent banking liabilities which the state has assumed are a further 129% GNP. The following two graphs show just how out of control the finance industry has gotten:


Source: Thomas Philippon (2008)

Source: Thomas Philippon (2011); Historical Statistics of the United States p24; BEA (.xls)

In case you're wondering who we've bailed out, it's these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=La84mwsCH-A

Based on deleveraging of global debt coupled with malinvestment in ghost estates/cities from Ireland to America to China and very poor GDP weighted demographics (Germany, China, Japan, Korea, Italy etc.) a period of painful deflation may be in store. Global debt is now over three times GDP:


Source: Business Insider

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