Feed on
Posts
Comments

We are spending more of our income on energy today than ever before, right?

Energy Expend Per GDP_24070_image001

Wrong!

Even allowing for the inflation / commodities boom preceding this recession, energy expenditures make up about 2.7% of GDP. I plotted data back to 1929. Our energy expenditures peaked, as a share of GDP, in the depths of the Depression (ask yourselves why) at just over 4.5% of income and there has been a secular decline since. This is all happening at a time when energy is increasingly important in our economic lives (ask what portion of your daily activities would be possible without produced energy and compare that to how your answer would change in, say, 1800).

Despite massive government intervention in, and distortion of, energy markets, energy makes up a much smaller share of our budgets than in the past. Since it is cheaper to power our cars, stoves, heaters, air conditions, washers, etc. we now have more resources to dedicate to things that were not as high on the priority list when we were poor – such as higher education and advanced medical care. If you were to divide this chart up by income group, you would find that the largest fraction of income spend on energy comes from … the poor. Let’s keep that in mind when we promote policies intended to raise the cost of energy.

11 Responses to “On the Second Day of Christmas”

  1. […] WINTERCOW in 2010: Sorry to be reposting. But again I think the message is worth repeating, especially on this wonderful day. I don’t want you to feel down about it at all. If you would like to see the data from the remaining eleven days, start here. […]

  2. […] to feel down about it at all. If you would like to see the data from the remaining eleven days, start here. And yes an update is in order. But there are bigger fish to fry […]

  3. 320932 686691Vi ringrazio, ho trovato che quanto scritto non sia completamente corretto 22470

  4. 744821 626757hello I was extremely impressed with the setup you used with this weblog. I use blogs my self so congrats. definatly adding to favorites. 203977

  5. Jaxx Liberty says:

    972191 456289I really like this blog web site, will undoubtedly come back once again. Make confident you carry on creating quality content material articles. 162133

  6. F1 shakes says:

    329751 396342I conceive this website has quite fantastic indited content material posts . 629250

  7. see page says:

    994235 615189I dont leave plenty of comments on plenty of blogs each week but i felt i had to here. Do you need to have several drafts to make a post? 58662

  8. 800506 748664Yay google is my world beater aided me to locate this outstanding site! . 631277

  9. 75961 325557I got what you intend,bookmarked , really decent web site. 634497

  10. 33000 631128Water-resistant our wales in advance of when numerous planking. The particular wales surely are a selection of heavy duty snowboards that this height ones would be exactly the same in principle as a new shell planking having said that with considerably much more height to assist you thrust outward in the evening planking. planking 229129

  11. 420744 624696hi!,I like your writing so a lot! share we keep up a correspondence extra approximately your post on AOL? I demand a specialist on this space to solve my difficulty. Might be that is you! Seeking ahead to peer you. 332665

Leave a Reply