Just when I was getting comfortable ridiculing the idea that we will run out of fossil fuels any time soon, we usher in an era of plentiful oil and natural gas. Naturally, people will find a way to declare this bad news for our economy (tip to Instapundit):
It looks like the United States is showing the early symptoms of a particularly nasty case of the Resource Curse. The dreaded syndrome, also known as Hugo Chávezitis, tends to strike countries when they tap into large finds of oil, gas, or other valuable natural resources. Although such bonanzas clearly have their advantages, the influx of new wealth often leads countries to neglect real underlying problems or the requirements of long-term growth simply because they can spend their newfound riches to paper over their troubles. Political leaders don’t have to do the hard work of building human capital and promoting sustainable economic growth—they can just coast along, riding the benefits of the resource boom.
Dude. Seriously?
We're already a large, developed country. Energy is a relatively small part of our economy. And the energy revolution is leading various energy-intensive industries to rebuild here in America.
Hell, new energy resources are the reason our national policies of screwing up growth haven't wrecked our economy. I suppose you could argue that President Obama is coasting along, riding the benefits of our resource boom. Yet the president would have put those policies in effect regardless of the energy outlook. So there is no cause and effect here.
Hopefully the energy boom lasts longer than President Obama's four years of hindering our economy. Then we'll know what our curse really was.
