Global oil use heads for steepest annual contraction

Re:Global oil use heads for steepest annual contraction by jariel on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @06:14AM (#22603440)

Those measures are fuzzy at best but besides the point.

That we are 'happier because we can travel, but sadder because we have Facebook' is another can of worms entirely.

But this 'no improvement in wellbeing' argument is mostly undermined by the fact that given the choice, almost 0 people chose to 'live like 50 years ago'. Everyone today can do that easily. They can go back to not having dishwashers, not wearing seatbelts, smoking a pack a day, black and white TV if they want to, but for some reason, they mostly chose modern convenience.

But the real issue is the fact that economic activity is diverse, and heavy-handed centralized attempts to intervene will have crazy consequences.

If there are 'obvious' ways to use a crises for 'obvious good' then sure, but I don't see any such thing.

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Re:Global oil use heads for steepest annual contraction by tonyedgecombe on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @11:46AM (#22606005)

We already have heavy handed centralized attempts to intervene, they are what has got us in this mess in the first place. It just happens that they came from big business.

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Re:Global oil use heads for steepest annual contraction by jariel on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @01:38PM (#22607627)

No, that's not at all true and not fair to say. There are no businesses that can dictate all of the terms of the market.

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