If Good History Is Dispassionate

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

Any New Financial Order For The World Must Tackle The Three Chief Challenges Of Our Age.

Bulls Don't Read. Bears Read Financial History. As Markets Fall To Bits, The Bears Dust Off The Dutch Tulip Mania Of 1637, The Banque Royale Of 1719-20, The Railway Speculation Of The 1840s, The Great Crash Of 1929.

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.

Saudi Arabia Operates According To The Belief That God Made Young Men And Women So Utterly And Completely Without Self-control That They Must Be Physically Segregated Every Moment Of The Day And Night.