It has already been proven that 4.00 gal gasoline will derail an already fragile economy. Remember a short few years back? We are heading that way now. I feel it in my urine.
Funny thing. A few days ago a friend of mine and I were discussing the fact that an awful lot of office type gigs could be done at home. No need to commute long distances for a a whole slew of these positions. Gas prices go real high then I would wager there will be a demand from employees to join the "work at home revolution." Many firms will balk of course, but the handwriting may be on the wall. Of course that presents a whole other economic problem in itself. There will quite a bit of office space available and some who are in the building management, security, maintenance, etc. industry may find themselves having to also make a career change.
With current technology there is really no need for quite a number of people to "go to the office" on a daily basis. Same can be said for flying here and there for "business" meetings. Just no need in many cases. The flip side to that is economic issues for the transportation and hospitality industry.
Of course most jobs are not of the "stay at home" variety, but enough are to change the landscape of commerce.
I wager that the business environment will look quite a bit different in a few years. Skyrocketing and sustained high energy costs may well be the catalyst.
