It wasn't all tariffs.
Now, how fast can the change occur ~ that seems to be your sticking point. You imagine that one sort of energy will ooze out as another oozes in. Yet, we had the Late Medieval charcoal burners put out of business with coal almost instantly. We had coal for home heating disappear in months as it was replaced with oil and cheap conversion kits. Home heating oil has been phased out so long ago in the Ohio Valley/Midwest no one can recall when gas took off ~ yet, that transition was quite fast, made faster with the provision of gas burner conversion kits for what had been oil furnaces.
Those are small markets on a world scale, but they are important for the lesson. Now, Europe ~ they went from coal-gas and oil to natural gas almost overnight. There were gaslines in place to ease the transition but within a couple of years ALL home ovens/stoves were tossed out and replaced with gas ovens/stoves. It didn't take long at all.
The European command economies cut off the old ways before the new stuff was coming in.
If this nickel/copper conversion device works the carbon industry will flicker out so fast you won't believe it.
We'll be back here next year saying to each other "WOW".
Sorry, but I simply don't believe that was a factor. I've studied a reasonable amount of history, including the Depression period, and I have not seen that idea put forth anywhere, by anyone (other than you). Show me the data.
Now, how fast can the change occur ~ that seems to be your sticking point. You imagine that one sort of energy will ooze out as another oozes in. Yet, we had the Late Medieval charcoal burners put out of business with coal almost instantly. We had coal for home heating disappear in months as it was replaced with oil and cheap conversion kits. Home heating oil has been phased out so long ago in the Ohio Valley/Midwest no one can recall when gas took off ~ yet, that transition was quite fast, made faster with the provision of gas burner conversion kits for what had been oil furnaces.
And what were the economic consequences. Again, I've studied history quite a bit, and both my parents lived through it, and I have seen no data to indicate any significant disruption.
"I" believe in the law of supply and demand. Demand will continue, and thus so will supply, albeit at a reduced level.
The worst hit will almost undoubtedly be the coal industry, because it's products are used almost entirely to power electric generation, and the E-cat will be direct competition. The only thing I can see that might support some level of coal usage is if it continues to be needed in iron production/refining. AFAIK, there is, at this point, no substitute for carbon to remove impurities in iron...but I'm not "up" on that technology, so may well be wrong.
"Those are small markets on a world scale, but they are important for the lesson. Now, Europe ~ they went from coal-gas and oil to natural gas almost overnight. There were gaslines in place to ease the transition but within a couple of years ALL home ovens/stoves were tossed out and replaced with gas ovens/stoves. It didn't take long at all.
And exactly what proof is that this change resulted in a major economic dislocation. The replacements for those ovens/stoves had to be made...and so generated jobs to do so.
"The European command economies cut off the old ways before the new stuff was coming in.
"European command economies" are not governed (in the short term) by supply and demand. In the long term, drastically so, and their distortions make things worse for their citizens.
"If this nickel/copper conversion device works the carbon industry will flicker out so fast you won't believe it."
You're right, I do NOT believe it. The US went from an economy based on burning wood (even up to the Civil War, Mississippi river steamboats burned wood), to one based on coal as wood replacement, to one based on oil as coal replacement, to one largely based on natural gas (and that transition would have happened faster and with less disruption if "little Jimmy" Carter hadn't emulated those "European command economies" by preventing natural gas being used to generate electric power), all without the kind of major disruption you claim will happen. And in fact, productivity and prosperity increased at each such transition.
"We'll be back here next year saying to each other "WOW"."
On that, I hope you're right.