It's interesting that you should mention an impending economic crash in relation to Alberta's booming oil industry. I work in a retail setting and get a lot of opportunity to talk with people in the industry. I've been hearing some strange reports coming from the oil patch lately, just talk for now that can't be confirmed, but do paint an ominous picture of what may lie ahead.
One lady was telling me how several hundred people have been laid off recently in the area where I live (northern Alberta), resulting in many mortgage foreclosures, and a glut of new homes being available on the market.
Another fellow, who works on satellite communication link-ups for the oil wells, reported that he is seeing American companies buying up many productive wells and capping them (shutting them down), in order to create the illusion of scarcity of natural resources when there is lots of oil and natural gas left in the ground.
I'm still trying to find confirmation of these trends from others in the field, but if it's true, this may be the beginning of a larger trend that sees our over-heated economy go belly-up.
If anyone has heard of similar or related stories in this area, please share them.
Tim