Interesting\
It is interesting that energy is a factor in the changes we have seen in the last 40 years; I don't think it is the only factor. I see the Tea Party and OWS having some overlap in complaints but opposed in remedies. The Tea Party wants to take the rugged individualist route and OWS for some wants to get government to get back in the business of representing the common man.
The article states that the US was taken off the gold standard to let the dollar float to market forces. The article mentions the debt bubble but does not talk about the change in interest rates that, during the 80's, jumped from single digit to double digits for most people. It is the interest on debt that makes it harder to pay off debt for individuals and nations.
Debt is not a bad or good thing as a concept, but it is how the debt is serviced as well as the payments to the debts. One way to get into debt quicksand is to borrow and pay only the minimum payment for years and then borrow to pay for the minimum payments. The article does say that expected growth was how debts were covered until growth began to decrease. Greece for example anticipated growth that did not happen to pay for the debts the govenment took on; the situation has gotten to the point that Greece has to borrow money to repay debts.
Historically, usary was considered evil and was banned in many countries with some exceptions. I think that usary has contributed to the decline in growth as much as energy although both are intertwined.
It should not be politics of less, it should be politics to keep the use of resources to sustainable levels. Currently, there are nations that are buying up strategic metals and that has caused the cost of copper to rise enough that thieves are breaking into vacant homes and buildings to rip out the copper wiring and plumbing (as well as steal the copper sword from the Lincoln Memorial). The US during WWII had rationing for many things that people undured to help support a war against the axis, this may need to be done today for similar reasons.
