Since The Attack On The United States

Because Bankers Measure Their Self-worth In Money, And Pay Themselves A Lot Of It, They Think They're Fine Fellows And Don't Need To Explain Themselves.

Up Until The Depression, Recession Had A Moral Character: It Was Supposed To Purge The Body Economic Of The Greed And Excess That Attends A Business Expansion.

The Truth Is, Of Course, That History Is Not Completed In Modern Commerce Any More Than Philosophy Is Perfected In Political Economy. In Other Words, There Is Nothing Timeless Or God-given About Filling Stations And Penicillin And Plastic Bags.

There Are Signs That The Age Of Petroleum Has Passed Its Zenith. Adjusted For Inflation, A Barrel Of Crude Oil Now Sells For Three Times Its Long-run Average. The Large Western Oil Companies, Which Cartellised The Industry For Much Of The 20th Century, Are Now Selling More Oil Than They Find, And Are Thus In The Throes Of Liquidation.

A Century Ago, Petroleum - What We Call Oil - Was Just An Obscure Commodity; Today It Is Almost As Vital To Human Existence As Water.