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Not that I'm a fan of the oil/gas industry, but the beneficial effects of cheap energy (virtually free in the case of natural gas in the US) shouldn't be overlo
by scottLobster 7y ago
Not that I'm a fan of the oil/gas industry, but the beneficial effects of cheap energy (virtually free in the case of natural gas in the US) shouldn't be overlooked, particularly if we can offset their negative consequences.
Climate change must be addressed and I'm all for clean energy (as in a significant portion of my portfolio is in clean energy ETFs, and I'm actually shorting oil and natural gas producers for the moment) but let's not kill a potential golden goose on principle. Decades of cheap energy could help lead to a rebirth of the American manfacutring sector.
- ComputerGuru 7y ago> Decades of cheap energy could help lead to a rebirth of the American manfacutring sector. Energy is cheap in the USA (and has been for decades). Let’s not kid ourselves, energy costs aren’t the reason the USA exported ~all its manufacturing jobs. (Remember to exclude subsidies in your comparisons, as that’s a matter of policy and, for example, the USA could choose to implement them today if it wanted.)
- Fjolsvith 7y agoProbably better return on the investment if other parts of the world were to implement them: https://waqi.info/ https://waqi.info/
- scottLobster 7y agoIf the rise of Trump, Sanders and Warren is any indication the USA does want to implement policy to retain manufacturing, even if it doesn't have a good plan to do so right now. Given the rising cost of labor in the developing world, increased automation and moves toward protectionism on both sides of the aisle, not to mention the cultural/geopolitical headaches in dealing with authoritarian dictatorships, it's plausible that super-cheap energy could be a deciding factor. Germany figured it out, and their energy costs are roughly double ours.