resilience and brittle systems: lessons from the oil shock

Written by Ken
09/02/2008
Whoop-de-do! We’re cutting back on gas purchases and vehicle miles traveled! Ain’t we smart! Not so fast, says Jeff Vail! We’re actually making the economy more brittle in the process (via oildrum). Howzat? By reducing the easy, discretionary demand first, we’re actually becoming more vulnerable, because less discretion means less capacity to absorb shocks, says Vail. The [...] Read more...