Will it be a Small World After All?

"Ever-higher energy costs will fundamentally change the way each and every one of us live our day-to-day lives - from where we work to what we eat to where we lay down our heads at night, and everything in between.

Unlike many previous peak oil books, which typically don't get much past 'we're in big trouble,' Mr. Rubin's conclusions are refreshingly optimistic. His world of the oil-starved future, at least for Western societies, looks a lot like the bygone years of our fond memory, where people work and vacation nearer to home, eat locally grown foods and buy locally produced goods, and suburban sprawl is replaced by revitalized cities.

A shrinking of global trade suggests massive disruptions for an export-driven economy such as Canada's. Yet, paradoxically, Mr. Rubin sees this as just the medicine to revive Canada's dying manufacturing sector. He believes soaring transportation costs, combined with an eventual imposition by governments of costs on greenhouse gas emissions, will wipe out Asia's huge competitive advantage on labour costs and revitalize manufacturing of goods closer to home."