Periodically, the global economy experiences great commodity booms and busts, characterized by a broad and sharp comovement of commodity prices. There have been two such episodes since the Korean War. The first event peaked in 1974 and the second in 2008, 34 years apart. Both created major economic and political shocks, including fallen governments and human suffering due to high food prices. Each occurrence raised serious concerns over food and energy security and led to more government intervention in the commodity markets. Although there is no simple explanation for what causes such complex events, they do share similar characteristics. We find at the core of these cycles a set of contemporaneous supply and demand surprises that coincided with low inventories and that were magnified by macroeconomic shocks and policy responses. In the next few decades, the world faces the prospect of continued increases in the demand for commodities and greater uncertainty about supply. However, because market participants are likely to respond by increasing inventory holdings and investing in new technologies, we see no reason to expect an increase in the frequency of dramatic commodity booms and busts.

As public and private institutions recognize the role of space exploration as a catalyst for economic growth, various areas of innovation are expected to emerge as drivers of the space economy. These include space transportation, in-space manufacturing, bioproduction, in-space agriculture, nuclear launch, and propulsion systems, as well as satellite services and their maintenance. However, the current nature of space as an open-access resource and global commons presents a systemic risk for exuberant competition for space goods and services, which may result in a “tragedy of the commons” dilemma. In the race among countries to capture the value of space exploration, NASA, American research universities, and private companies can avoid any coordination failures by collaborating in a public–private research and development partnership (PPRDP) structure. We present such a structure founded upon the principles of polycentric autonomous governance, which incorporate a decentralized autonomous organization framework and specialized research clusters. By advancing an alignment of incentives among the specified participatory members, PPRDPs can play a pivotal role in stimulating open-source research by creating positive knowledge spillover effects and agglomeration externalities as well as embracing the nonlinear decomposition paradigm that may blur the distinction between basic and applied research.

This editorial paper tackles the issue of the consumer attitudes toward energy reduction and changing energy consumption behaviors. This topic is of special relevance today as Europe faces an unprecedented energy crisis as a result of diverting from Russian supplies of oil and gas due to the war in Ukraine. For many years now, Europe has relied upon cheap and affordable Russian oil and gas (in fact, the European Green Deal and the strategy for the decarbonization of the economy by 2030 were indirectly based on it), but the transition to the renewable future now appears to be jeopardized. As energy prices are soaring globally, it is not yet clear whether this would have an effect on significantly changing consumer behavior and increasing energy efficiency and security as many consumers are reluctant to change their old habits and are used to having their energy on demand and for any possible occasion. However, changing energy consumption behaviors would be beneficial not only for handling the current energy crisis but also for setting the long-term trends with respect to energy saving, which is crucial for fighting global warming and climate change while sustaining economic growth.