“What’s all this I hear about straight horseshoes,” Warren asked, “I don’t understand ‘cause I know they’re bendy.”
Sighing deeply, Marty tried to bury his regrets about never getting his brother’s hearing checked and asked him, “What do you think might really be going on. I’ll tell you ….. it’s the Straight of Hormuz - a critical choke point for the global economy and it’s closed.”
Warren knew that the shortages of oil, gas and the by-products of their processing would mean trouble: fertilizer becomes more expensive and harvests decline, forcing food prices higher and potentially causing famine; economic hardship hits when fuel costs drain consumers wallets of the funds for dining, travel and entertainment - crashing those industries and triggering higher unemployment; all of which could trigger global recession.
“Facing us are the risks of inflation, famine, unemployment and recession,” Marty said. “It’s looking bleak but you know what they say about dark clouds …..”
“They bring April showers!” Warren shouted, interrupting.
“No, it’s every dark cloud has a silver lining,” Marty said.
From The Copy Desk: We don’t believe in absolutes and suggest that some dark clouds might have silver linings, but that’s just us.
Warren looked surprised and asked urgently, “With all that bleakness you just warned of how can there be anything positive about this looming disaster.
“Also, why isn’t it a copper lining for dark clouds, after all you’ve heard of pennies from heaven, right?”
Smiling, Marty looked his brother in the eyes and said just two words, “Demand destruction.”
With this, Warren slipped into that confused state that Marty recognizes as his cue to teach while the teachin’s good. “I’ll start at the beginning and go slowly for …
From The Copy Desk: We interrupt Marty’s long rant about how our global warming crisis could be mitigated with ‘demand destruction’ to offer this synopsis:
~ Demand destruction is what economists call the effect of supply disruptions which force market changes that into the future reduce the demand for the scarcer/pricier resources. As when a consumer buys a battery electric vehicle (BEV) and never buys gasoline again.
~ Since the price spike triggered by Straight of Hormuz closure consumers in the rational portions of the world have flocked to buy BEVs and plug-in hybrids. In the first quarter of 2026 YoY BEV sales in European Union were up 26% to more than 700,000 units - 20% of new auto registrations.
~ Governments around the world are acting to reduce demand by promoting remote work, reducing cooling in buildings, promoting public transport, reducing government travel and direct public appeals to cut energy consumption.
~ Nations are also investing more in wind, solar and other alternative energy sources.
We now return you to Marty’s rant ….
“….. and the combination of all these will speed the transition to lower carbon economy. Pushing fossil fuels to the margins and potentially saving humanity, despite the fossil fuel fools efforts to stymie the transition,” Marty concluded.
