Chris is well informed when it comes to Peak Oil. Read "The Impending World Energy Mess" by Robert Hirsch for a more detailed and data rich source. We are at peak oil based on the oil that is in the ground as estimated by geologists who specialize in finding oil reserves. They have already found the big & easy resources so even if certain areas (like ANWR) were opened to drilling they would not compensate for the decline of the big oil fields.
But, really, we should all act like we are at peak oil (even if for some miraculous reason we found 3 more Ghawars) because the ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere and the acidification of the oceans is getting scary.
1. What is Chris Martenson's economic background, or is he more self taught and read?
2. He says a lot of things that make sense and sound plausible, but I don't have a deep background in economics to compare against to evaluate their validity and soundness. In particular, it seems that he is observing correlation and implying/assuming causation. This does not necessarily, by itself, mean he is wrong, it just needs to be approached and examined with caution to ensure the correct conclusion(s) is (are) being drawn.
3. Also he seems to be ignoring other outside influences (in particular with oil exploration and discovery). For example, he bases some of his estimates of when peak oil will occur based on what has historically been observed in the US, but how much of that is due to realities of environmental limitations and how much is due to governmental policies that have curtailed exploration and development of existing oil fields? However, this does not change the point he was making that the economic assumption now is that we have an effectively unlimited source and supply of cheap energy to fuel economic growth, which is not compatible with the realities of the world we live in (although it may have been reasonable up to even 10 years ago, it is not now or looking any distance into the future).