RE and economic charts: Eating Gasoline in America + The Federal Reserve Enters Decline + The Ascent of Middle East Food and Energy Demand

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Eating Gasoline in America + The Federal Reserve Enters Decline + The Ascent of Middle East Food and Energy Demand

[mEDITate-OR:

see the humour in this one...

Gregor Macdonald is an oil analyst and energy sector investor, who also focuses on the coming transition to alternatives.

And, he has a most interesting web site, aboot oil. Here are three very well thought out, and different articles.

The 1st chart shows U.S. that the use of food stamps by U.S. appears to be directly tied to the price of gasoline. As gas goes up, our ability to feed ourselves goes down.

The 2nd chart shows U.S. that the backup supply of energy for U.S. provided by the rest of the world has plateaued. Both by China using more and by OPEC providing less.

The 3rd chart is "argumentative", but rather stunning - that those who sell U.S. their oil are both using more of it themselves, and needing more food that they can supply themselves.

One might suggest that they start using hydroponics.

hydroponics hy'dro·pon'ics. adj. cultivation of plants in nutrient solution rather than in soil.

hydroponics.com hy’dro-pon’ics dot com. An informative, educational website designed to help you learn everything you need to know about hydroponics and direct you to the best products possible to meet your hydroponic growing needs.

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The research now establishing economic sensitivity to high oil prices, especially for commuters from America’s suburbs, is myriad. Indeed, depending on how high gasoline prices go, housing affordability itself is now more likely to fall with distance. This was only exacerbated in the past ten years as home buyers, looking to escape housing inflation, migrated further and further from city cores, to the peripheries. More broadly, we now understand that poverty is now a phenomenon of the suburbs, according to a study released this year by The Brookings Institute. And given that trend, I have taken another look at one of my favored indicators: food stamp usage. Below is a chart of food stamp users (the SNAP program) in one of America’s quintessential post-war, car commuting regions: San Bernardino County.
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