Resource LimitsFor those of you who are inclined to follow into a more or less esoteric rabbit hole, the subject today is 'resource limits and their macro but unavoidable effect on markets. Resource limits are defined as the economic barriers between expectation and reality.
In the case of hydrocarbons, resource limits are the dichotomy of the economically affordable price of oil and the reality that the costs of production, including the opportunity cost of "climate chang" imposed by politicians is greater than its price.
For the metals, rare earths and chemicals required to realise a "green future", it is the dichotomy of the required volumes of these resources and the realisation that the earth may not contain sufficient quantities to fulfill politicians' dreams at either an economic price or an environmentally acceptable cost.
Resource limits imposed on developed countries may be politically manipulated until the cost is unbearable but the third world will not allow fanciful OECD "climate change" ideolgy to hinder their survival. They value survival more than they value first world notions of 'saving the planet'.
The point this dichotomy presents is that the resource limits of any commodity will inexorably raise its future price and that suppliers are foolish to sell at low price now for commodities that will provide a greater future return.
Hence the 'no growth' model for oil we now find ourselves in whereby producers return capital to shareholers rather than to 'growth at any cost'. Demand will come from those wanting a better life and willing to pay for it, not the dystopian purveyors of "climate change" and their willingness to sacrifice others.
No matter what political meddlers attempt, the absolute of resource limits will enforce economic reality.