He certainly deserves credit for being ahead of the curve, in warning ofcommodity inflation around the turnof the century, the dangers of the housing bubble and the dangers of excessive sovereign debt.
In another scenario, world recovery would continue, absent Europe and sharply rising commodity prices in turn would tax all of Europe, magnifying the effects of austerity and increasing risks of revolution.
This is an important corner to turn for any digital product because of the potential elevation from a price-sensitive commodity to a locked-in ecosystem subject to the expansive laws of network effects.
As mentioned before, market forces are putting increased pressure on commodity prices, which in turn pump up the heat on the governments and populations of emerging economies, especially the poorer ones.