Byron King

Byron King practiced law for many years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his efforts were focused on litigation, bankruptcy and other oft-contentious matters involving people and money. Byron seldom writes a letter to the editor of any newspaper, because "some newsroom intern might screw up and print it." But in a moment of weakness Byron once sent a note to Bill Bonner, publisher of the Daily Reckoning. Things happened. Fate intervened. Byron is now a contributing editor to Whiskey & Gunpowder and a co-editor of Outstanding Investments, with Kevin Kerr.

Byron is our resident geologist, in that he is an honors graduate of Harvard University and holds a degree in the subject. After Harvard, Byron went to work as a geologist in the exploration and production division of a major international oil company. Byron has followed developments in the oil and gas industry for more than three decades.

But there was a time when Byron sought more excitement than anyone can get from simply flaring high-pressure gas whipping out of a 21,000 foot well. So Byron also served for many years in both the active and reserve components of the United States Navy. While in the sea service, Byron logged over 1,000 hours of flight time in tactical jet aircraft, as well as 128 carrier landings. Among other assignments Byron served on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, and as a field historian with the Navy to include service in and around what he calls the "tough neighborhoods" of the Middle East.

Byron holds advanced degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and the U.S. Naval War College. Combining all of this background, Byron looks at current events, economics, politics and particularly energy issues through the lens of history. He brings to the table a unique perspective that incorporates many millions of years of the Earth's geologic history, and blends its significance into the more recent, man-made kind of tale.

06/07/07 - Corridors of Power
by Byron King "Have you ever really stopped to think about where the electricity that powers your home…your office…basically everything in your life comes from? Neither did we…good thing we have Byron King to enlighten us. Read on…"

05/02/07 - A Distant Peak?
by Byron King "The Peak Oil theory is still widely debated…and our intrepid correspondent, Byron King, sends us this report back from the Offshore Technology Conference, where Exxon Mobile gave their take on the subject. Read on…"

04/17/07 - Oil Booms and Busts
by Byron King "Over the past 25 years, the 'growth' in oil reserves estimated to be in existing oil fields has actually exceeded the additions to reserves from new discoveries. The implication is that the existing oil fields of the world are as important, and maybe even more important, than the prospective new discoveries out in wildcat country. Byron King explores…"

09/19/06 - The Nature of Disaster
by Byron King "What constitutes a financial "disaster"? What causes these disasters? Below, Byron King reviews a book, History of Financial Disasters, which looks to answer those questions - and more. Read on…"

08/30/06 - The Four Phases of Transition
by Byron King "'In the face of Peak Oil and its multiple consequences…it seems imperative to get prepared to face all the inevitable shock waves. Every preparative step taken today will prove far cheaper than any step taken tomorrow.'"

08/02/06 - National Bankruptcy, Part II
by Byron King "One of the most famous indentured servants in American history was a young man named Benjamin Franklin, whose later views on avoiding and staying out of debt were very much formed and informed by his early indentured experiences."

08/03/06 - National Bankruptcy
by Byron King "Since at least Roman times, and maybe before, a bankruptcy process has been the means by which a society could balance the need to eliminate or moderate a debtor's debt with the protection of the creditors."

06/28/06 - A Torrent of Darkness, Part II
by Byron King "There is no question but that wind power, with its ability to reduce the need to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is an investment opportunity for the future."

06/2706 - A Torrent of Darkness, Part I
by Byron King "More than 50% of the nation's population lives in counties adjacent to the seacoast. So, global warming and concomitant rising sea levels have the potential to devastate the United States both physically and as a society."

05/17/06 - The Conquest of the Rock
by Byron King "With major regions of the oil-producing world entering or already in a state of irreversible decline, there is no 'swing' capacity to accommodate increased oil demand."

02/07/06 - Peak Oil and the Sorry State of the Union
by Byron King "President Bush said, 'America is addicted to oil,' and set a goal of replacing 75 percent of the nation's Mideast oil imports by 2025 with ethanol and other energy sources. Who is he kidding?"

11/09/05 - War and Empire, Part II
by Byron King "The first rule of winning a war is to avoid defeating yourself…As Sun Tzu said, 'The skillful warrior can achieve his own invulnerability. But he can never bring about the enemy's vulnerability.'"

11/08/05 - War and Empire, Part I
by Byron King "In Chapter 13 of his work, Sun Tzu writes of the use of spies in war, and the necessity of understanding what is going on in the enemy camp: 'Spies are a key element in warfare. On them depends an army's every move.'"

10/06/05 - An Oil Boom - Without The Oil
by Byron King "I cannot speak for the Almighty, but I believe that this boom has more to do with the monetary expansion of Mr. Alan Greenspan, and the predictions of a fellow named Dr. M. King Hubbert, than with the Big Guy upstairs."

06/30/05 - Oil Is Where You Find It
by Byron King "The good old days of just drilling the 'bumps' are over. But just as in the days of Col. Drake, the oil and gas is out there somewhere…and Byron King shows us just where to look."

03/15/05 - Barrels Of Oil, Miles Of Mud
by Byron King "We look at the stir caused by Edwin Drake, the man who drilled the world's first commercial oil well. It's interesting to see what a look into history can tell us about the present-day oil frenzy."

04/07/04 - Wilson's Destiny, Part II
by Byron King "[Woodrow] Wilson bequeathed his nation, the world, and 'humanity' the legacy of federal credit, national debt, a large centralized government, and an imperious, if not crusading, international moral ideology built."

04/06/04 - Wilson's Destiny, Part I
by Byron King "No one can truly understand the issues of the modern era without knowledge of the man who mid-wifed it into existence. It is not too much to say that the 20th Century was [Woodrow] Wilson's Century."

Riches To Rags
by Byron King "With a bit of luck and some hard work, but without the credit bubble let loose by the Fed, Bernie Ebbers would have lived like many other successful business-owning suits."

More Oil For The Lamps Of China
by Byron King "The continents hold most of what geologists refer to as the Earth's sedimentary basins, and that is where the petroleum is. Well, sometimes that is where the petroleum is; you have to drill and find it. The Chinese know this."

The Humble Homeowner
by Byron King "So in addition to our unseasonable winter warmth, we are experiencing unseasonable January rainfall. Said rainfall lands upon our humble roof."

Making Money In Early America
by Byron King "Aside from a few limited experiments in paper currency, real money - the gold or silver kind that was accepted in exchange by almost all people in almost all places at almost all times - was not native to the colonies at all. People had to improvise."

Ballot Bedlam
by Byron King "'There sure is one hell of a lot of new voters coming out of the woodwork for this election.' If you know what I mean…if everyone votes enough times in the same election, do you think that eventually we will get it right?"

Consumers, Start Praying
by Byron King "'Our economy is just chock-a-block with the wrong economic incentives. And most people don't even have a clue. Our grandchildren will hate us.'"

On The Next Greyhound Out Of Town
by Byron King "I am no psychiatrist, but I have to wonder if deep down, W thinks that he has accomplished his goal of getting elected and now he can call it quits. At this stage, maybe he just wants to bring his presidency to an end."

The Material World
by Byron King "The world is in the early stages of what some people call a "commodities boom." In the short term, and because the monetary system of the West is rigged in favor of the West's own self interest."

America First
by Byron King "The Internet has given radical Islam its day-to-day communications and connections to the world at large. And Western complacency ("What, me, worry?") has given radical Islam its fifth-column in every target set."

Economic Autopsy
by Byron King "The particular business owner, with whom I am dealing, ran up a series of delinquent accounts to obtain materials, bouncing from one vendor to another when the previous one would shut him off."

E-Ring Hubris
by Byron King "A loss of face by the U.S. in the Middle East, through death of a thousand cuts at our people and interests, could end the willingness of the American people to go abroad 'looking for dragons to slay,' in the words of John Quincy Adams."

The Aquarius
by Byron King "What prompts me to think of Roman aqueducts, and the aquarii who serviced them, is the following article by William Broad in today's New York Times (May 5, 2004)."

The Fault Lines Of Viet Nam
by Byron King "Does Mars, the God of War, have a sense of humor? Viewed from the very large perspective, Viet Nam created fault lines in every aspect of American culture and politics. And those fault lines still cause earthquakes."

On The Trail Of The Faberge Collection
by Byron King "Capital is being accumulated at a huge rate in formerly socialist Russia, we are told, and by one of the principal accumulators no less. Portable assets, including Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs acquired over many decades."

As We Go Marching, Too
by Byron King "The United States [is] a great nation, but one that has been in slow liquidation over many decades. The nation is broke, or insolvent to use a technical term. W entered the White House in 2000."