The Meaning of Peak Oil

The common criticism of the Peak Oil theory is that "there is plenty of oil left to get"; from tar sands to coal conversion to drilling at deeper depths of the ocean. The problem is, people making this argument are missing the obvious point. Of course there is plenty of oil, it's just not the "easy oil". Most of the easy to get stuff is gone - now we're going to have to go after stuff that is riskier to get and more energy intensive to produce. At some point, the economics will have to take over, and some people (or nations) will not be able to afford the stuff. When that becomes widespread enough, global instability will occur, local economic instability will become more prevalent, and....more bad stuff will happen.