Precisely. When the empire was in bad shape politically, much of the 3rd c AD, the economy boomed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3236958/posts?page=27#27
America has transitioned quite nicely from wood to coal, coal to oil (for mobile apps). It will transition quite nicely to the next denser energy source if the government would butt out. Same is true for natural resources. The price mechanism of the market is mighty and very effective. Is it perfect? No. Is it a lot perfecter :) than socialism? Yup.
The other thing this article ignores is that the world is about 20 years away from a population crash. World demographics have shifted dramatically. My son will spend much of his adult life with the government frantically trying to impose socialism in order to prevent population collapse.