The Misunderstood Crisis

"Bank collapses, the sub-prime crisis and state debts running out of control – since 2008, experts and politicians have defined the economic crisis as a derailment of the financial system. Governments, without hesitation, instituted emergency bank bailouts and numerous other measures to revive the ailing economy. Five years on, the recovery is, at best, faltering and, at worst, illusory. In this timely and thought-provoking book, Dutch oil industry experts Maarten van Mourik and Oskar Slingerland argue that the crisis has been falsely diagnosed. They make a compelling case that energy, rather than the financial system, lies at its root. In 2006, by analysing industry data, they correctly predicted steep oil price rises and the economic shock that would follow. Using the same data, they now argue that the era of cheap oil is over, and with it our prospects for long-term growth. The situation should trigger a radical change of our economic and production models, yet western governments have failed to grasp the challenge. If nothing changes, the book argues, we will be heading further into deep trouble. "