> in light of China's 50-100 year vision for where they want to be, we are basically fucked. The chinese have been securing access to all major natural resources in Africa, as well as being the manufacturing hub for EVERYTHING - while the US government is squabbling over petty short term profit efforts and securing a diminishing resource (oil).)
Is it possible for island nations with no natural resources to be wealthy? Are you familiar with the historical and economic criticisms of Mercantilism? Are you aware that world proven oil reserves are at an all time high, and that the primary source of US oil and energy imports is Canada? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism
"world proven oil reserves are at an all time high"...etc.
Unfortunately - even if this is correct, and opinions do vary - this does not counter the fact that oil is a diminishing resource. Furthermore, the quality of current reserves, in terms of oil grade and ease of extraction, is increasingly poor.
All flora, fauna, and hydrocarbons are merely aggregates of either solar or geothermal energy, which appears to be virtually infinite for the next few billion years. The rise and fall of individual business models for energy conversion does not imply deterministic limits or that military hegemony produces any benefits.
While certain metals are rare to Earth, they are overly abundant on asteroids which robots have already visited. Severe shortages would create a corresponding incentive to invest capital in extraterrestrial resource extraction, which would lead to much greater long term abundance.
Is it possible for island nations with no natural resources to be wealthy? Are you familiar with the historical and economic criticisms of Mercantilism? Are you aware that world proven oil reserves are at an all time high, and that the primary source of US oil and energy imports is Canada? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism