Category — recession

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), a demographer and political economist (according to Wikipedia), came up with a law of population dynamics. In a nutshell, it says that only natural causes and vice will keep populations in check. I believe that there’s another factor: the cost of oil and gas, which could start killing us if the price keeps going up.

Our societies depend so intrinsically on these fuels. Most of us are at the mercy of the $106+ per barrel of oil that was reached this week. And that cost affects pretty much everything. Our cost of living goes up significantly as a result. That includes food, the fuel we need to survive. In just two years, my weekly groceries - which I keep pretty constant for experimental reasons - have gone from about $30 to $45. That’s a 50% increase. And on top of that, the cost of the gas I need to get to the grocery store has gone up.
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The U.S. economy is in a recession, according to Warren Buffet and others. Home foreclosures were at an all-time high in the last quarter of 2007, and in some places such as parts of Florida, condos have been discounted down to 50%. If you’ve got the money and the patience, you could make a killing in real estate, buying when everyone is selling. That’s the prosperity mind, but it’s easy if you already have the money. (However, I don’t see this recession lasting long, espcially if a Democrat wins the Presidency. So if you have the money, you might consider some real estate.)