I agree with most of that argument. However, it is an oversimplification ... obviously people are speculating this commodity and that can (and does) drive up price, much more so than by simple virtue of 'peak oil'.
It's better to scare the public with peak oil stories, than actually doing the research and finding out some people are getting rich, and not adding any value to the system in any way.
I think they are adding value to the system. They're moving the price of oil up, and the efficient price of oil is surely higher than what the price of oil is now.
The alternative is government intervention, and people are tremendously resistant to that.
Take, for example, water. Water needs to be expensive because people are using it waste fully because it's cheap. You could have water traders bid up the price of water. Or you could have the government tell people to stop using so much water. I'd personally prefer the government to tell LA and Phoenix they all need to move somewhere that it rains, but that's not going to happen. And I'd rather not see Goldman get rich while people die of thirst. So we'll just run out of water instead. People in Arizona will use it to water their fucking lawns until it runs out.
>Water needs to be expensive because people are using it waste fully because it's cheap. //
You could ration it - allow people to sell their ration and reward water conservation; or provide a free allowance with an increasing charge for additional volume. Simply making water the same amount of expensive per litre isn't right IMO. Water should be treated differently as it's such a necessity for life.
It's better to scare the public with peak oil stories, than actually doing the research and finding out some people are getting rich, and not adding any value to the system in any way.