The Guardian | Drive slower, work from home and ditch the tie: the world responds to Iran war energy crisis by Ajit Niranjan Environment correspondent

Oil crisis triggered by blockade of strait of Hormuz prompts emergency measures to protect supply and halt rising prices

Shrinking fuel stocks and soaring prices are leading countries around the world to burn coal, ration fuel, shorten work weeks and tell citizens to stay at home.

Fossil fuel supplies have reduced since the war against Iran led to the closure of the strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping route for oil and seaborne gas. The shortfall has prompted emergency measures as government’s attempt to halt rising costs that have thrown economies into chaos.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/02/world-response-iran-war-energy-crisis-oil

#fossilfuels #oil #economies #energycrisis

Capitalism, in theory, is great. #Capitalism, as currently practiced, doesn't work very well.

Many years ago I read Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" [1]. If you don't understand #economics but want to, it's the second book I recommend you read [2] to get there. He describes how all the parts of the system work together, what influences other actors in the system, how it incorporates diverse feedback, and more.

What we actually have today, though, only approximates what Smith describes. There's too many things gummed up with collusion and political and regulatory capture and a bunch of other things, so our #economies don't run very well.

Illustration:

Sears lasted longer in Canada than it did in the USA, but it still failed. At some point, #Sears #Canada shuttered its retail operations while it tried to figure out what to do. There was a large Sears warehouse in my city, visible from a busy freeway.

So the company had no #revenue, but ongoing #expenses - like property #taxes. Some bright spark #MBA realized unimproved real estate was taxed at lower rates than buildings, so they tore the warehouse down, razed it.

It was still completely full of #merchandise at the time. I watched it. Too much trouble to sell or give away, so off to the dump.

Then Sears went bankrupt, somebody bought the land, and built a warehouse on it.

[1] As was common then, its full title is ridiculously long.
[2] The first, much easier read is Henry Hazlitt's "Economics in One Lesson".