Staff of Lehmans' Bank may disagree with you there, as may the Greek ruling elite.
But yes they do tend to have government intervention somewhere along the chain, usually though barriers and restraints to trade and taxes. All this does though is increases the time span between the transaction taking place and the goods being delivered. Not really a problem with trinkets but can be an issue with food and raw materials, those these tend to be the ones that are least affected. I think if you look at the countries that are most affected by natural disasters, the ones that suffer the worse have the greatest restrictions on then. So if a country decided that it will not allow intellectual exchange or imposes high taxes on imported goods and services, in effect an isolation policy, then those people will suffer.
Called cutting of your nose to spite your face.

Posted By: JoinerChina is about as restrictive as you can get, yet bankrolls the rest of the world.

Not when it comes to global trade and the implementation of the capital system.

Trust me Cornwall is in another time zone, but -20 years.

Shall read those articles later, just about to 'go up-country' away from the Emmets, should be crossing the Tamar in an hour or so. Found passport and have double the normal cash in my wallet.

Posted By: Joinerat a time when the whole world is falling apart because the reality of peak oil has hit home at last.

What are they going to do? Walk to the trouble-spot? Wait for the troublemakers to come to the grounded helicopter gunships?

Always biofuel, of course, if there's enough left over from feedstock for biomass electricity generation

What'll happen is that 'essential' national needs, meaning armed forces and security services first of all, will get first cut at whatever fuel there is (far from 'if there's enough left over from feedstock'), which will greatly exaggerate the supply and shortage that the rest of us will experience, in descending order of priority. For a long interim period, starting quite soon, it won't be absolute shortage, or even price, that will force everyone (at last) to find ways to do without fuel - but unreliability of supply.

Posted By: fostertombut unreliability of supply.

That I agree with totally, but could lead to hoarding.

Posted By: fostertomIf only there was a decent plan

An Economist would say there is, called sector price escalation.

And just had this from an American correspondent...

"We are starting to see the effects of massive government spending in the form of inflation. I expect it to get much worse.

During the Carter administration they formed the energy department with the stated goal to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That department now has 160,000 employees and our dependence has increased. By bureaucrat standards I'm sure that would be a success."

We're in agreement that actually, as far as the UN proposal goes, nothing will be done because the real world is governed by politicians and the administration(s) they control.

Posted By: Joiner: Ah, if only there were more economists around. We wouldn't be in this economic mess then.

Q. Whats the difference between a tragedy and a catastrophe?

A. A tragedy is a boatload of economists going down in a storm, A catastrophe is discovering they can all swim.

I'll tell him, Bot. Where on earth did you find that figure so that I can point him in the right direction?