Yes, the price for Brent crude is declining - as is production, of course. And as are British home prices, apart from London and foreign buyers, often just coincidentally from countries where oil is the major export commodity.

Too many people focus on high prices, which may come from watching too much TV and believing this is an education in economics and markets.

But if the price of oil is in a serious decline, let's say because of a soon to be impossible to ignore collapse in the world's largest debtor nation, then where are the funds for replacing some fairly worn out infrastructure to come from? Will the price essentially porpoise repeatedly, leading to even more massive disruptions? A fairly typical scenario from just a while ago, I recall.

I hate getting into the logistic/geologic peak oil side of the debate, but this is the sort of subtle exchange of opinions which has also tended to be in shorter supply over the last period. Price is just one measure, while what comes out of the pipeline another. And what comes out of the pipeline trumps everything else - just ask the British or Italians about their experiences last winter. The former Italian prime minister talking on TV about covering pots when cooking was something told to me by an Italian co-worker - and some people thought Carter was silly for wearing a sweater. But I think Berlusconi lost for different reasons then lecturing about energy conservation - his involvement in Iraq was not a plus in a country which could turn out millions of anti-war protesters, for example. Along with massive crony capitalism - except his only crony turned out to be himself in the end, an unpardonable sin.

I am as guilty as any of getting off topic, of course. Tempus culpa, or something - the dead hand of entropy is never far in a complex system. And yes, Leanan talks about more than simply energy issues - it makes her interesting.