For centuries, self-styled experts have predicted that growth would collide with hard physical limits, that humanity would run out of food, oil, and everything that advances civilization. They’ve always been wrong.

Cato’s Travis Fisher and David M. Simon have authored a new blog post tracing that tradition of pessimism from Malthus to peak oil to today’s energy alarmism and explaining why the tide is finally turning. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, guided by Julian Simon’s insight that human ingenuity is the ultimate resource, is steering American energy policy toward abundance rather than fear.

The shale revolution wasn’t centrally planned. It emerged from decentralized experimentation, private investment, and a government that got out of the way. That’s the model for human flourishing and for the first time, it’s guiding federal policy.

To arrange an interview with Travis Fisher, contact Cato PR at pr@​cato.​org.