Ponzi scheme is wrong-- a Ponzi scheme is a specific thing. But it is true that the suburbs are unsustainable, barring the invention of Mr. Fusion or similar.

Ponzi scheme is wrong-- a Ponzi scheme is a specific thing. But it is true that the suburbs are unsustainable, barring the invention of Mr. Fusion or similar. When cheap oil is gone, the suburbs are gone. Oh there are replacements, but none of the replacements can deliver at scale at a cost cheap enough to keep the suburbs going. The suburbs don't just require oil... they require very very cheap oil. Otherwise they are simply not economical. Electric cars are feasible, but they're going to need a lot of extra grid capacity. Keep in mind that after oil peaks gas and coal will peak too, and keeping the grid up and growing capacity in the post-fossil-fuel age is going to be a major undertaking requiring the full development of pretty much every post-fossil-fuel energy source: gen-IV nuclear, wind, solar, etc. All that adds up to cost... which brings us back around to the original point: it's not going to be cheap. Thus, the suburbs won't be economical. It will be cheaper to just abandon the suburbs and save the energy than to support them. The suburbs will be the slums of the future. You can already see this happening.