MonteQuest wrote:For example: If sales at company A fell 10%.
Which of the following was the culprit?
1. Conservation 10%
2. Demand destruction 10%
3. Loss sales 10%
Doesn't really matter does it?
Lost sales are lost sales = loss of jobs.
True - for that company. But company B could gain 10% or more as a result of reallocation of priorities. Why do you assume it's a zero-sum game? Furthermore, at some level I realy don't care if energy producers lose sales, especially since many of them are corrupt foreign governments. And even for them, I dispute the idea that using less energy means energy producers will see fewer sales. They'll see fewer unit sales but not necessarily fewer dollars. To use extreme numbers, suppose SA goes from selling 10 mbd at $60 to 5 mbd at $120. Net result is SA government is still raking in the same amount of money. Note that SA's lifting costs per barrel are just a few bucks a barrel - it's not like the number of workers is changing with price fluctuations, just the pure profit for the SA government.
MonteQuest wrote:That's because 40% of GDP growth is financial speculation and debt-financed, not the result of the real production of goods and services that raised purchasing wages, thus less consumption of energy to achieve a rise in GDP.
That's your opinion, but it's not widely shared. Exactly what is "real" goods and services? Who decides how to value it, you? Me? Is a new Harry Potter book a "real" good or service? How about a pro ball game? These things generate "GDP" far out of proportion to any utilitarian value that, say, a martian looking at the earth through a telescope might think they have. None of this is to say you're wrong about the ticking debt bomb, mind you.
MonteQuest wrote:Prices will rise yes, but will they rise as much as they would have without the increase in efficiency? In a free market they won't. The lower price will increase consumption.
Look at what is happening with gas prices right now. As the price drops, demand increases.
We are still pre-peak. So the short answer is yes, prices will rise sufficiently to balance demand with supply. You can't use what you can't produce. To think otherwise is against the laws of both physics and economics.