Oil will not remain cheap and will likely become a scarce global resource. The solution must be a blend of new technologies and resources to adapt to a changing environment. No one knows whether this means going into space or digging from deep within the Earth. Fundamentally, the current economic paradigm will not work as developing countries cannot industrialize too quickly without damaging the planet (through fossil fuels). Hopefully the world will be able to understand why there cannot be an equitable distribution of wealth when the middle class has been built in the United States, under conditions that are not replicable without another world war. Perhaps equality can be achieved beyond the distribution of wealth, and the lives of rich and poor individuals can be equally safe, healthy and happy if certain measures are taken. But at the end of the day, I'm not an economist, and I have no idea whether or not maintaining industrialization in certain areas will benefit the world, or even how the prices of various products affect ordinary people. What worries me is that we cannot rely on optimism alone to change the paradigm or adapt to the current economic situation