The next twenty years will be completely unlike the last twenty
years.
The world is in economic crisis, and there are no easy fixes to
our predicament. Unsustainable trends in the economy, energy, and
the environment have finally caught up with us and are converging
on a very narrow window of time–the ‘Twenty-Teens.’ The
Crash Course presents our predicament and illuminates the path
ahead, so you can face the coming disruptions and thrive–without
fearing the future or retreating into denial. In this book you will
find solid facts and grounded reasoning presented in a calm,
positive, non-partisan manner.
Our money system places impossible demands upon a finite
world. Exponentially rising levels of debt, based on
assumptions of future economic growth to fund repayment, will
shudder to a halt and then reverse. Unfortunately, our financial
system does not operate in reverse. The consequences of massive
deleveraging will be severe.
Oil is essential for economic growth. The reality of dwindling
oil supplies is now internationally recognized, yet virtually no
developed nations have a Plan B. The economic risks to
individuals, companies, and countries are varied and enormous.
Best-case, living standards will drop steadily worldwide.
Worst-case, systemic financial crises will toss the world into
jarring chaos.
This book is written for those who are motivated to learn about
the root causes of our predicaments, protect themselves and their
families, mitigate risks as much as possible, and control what
effects they can. With challenge comes opportunity, and The
Crash Course offers a positive vision for how to reshape our
lives to be more balanced, resilient, and sustainable.
Mục lục
Foreword vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Part I How to Approach the Next Twenty Years
Chapter 1 The Coming Storm 3
Chapter 2 The Lens: How to See the Future 7
Chapter 3 A World Worth Inheriting 11
Chapter 4 Trust Yourself 15
Part II Foundation
Chapter 5 Dangerous Exponentials 21
Chapter 6 An Inconvenient Lie: The Truth about Growth 35
Chapter 7 Our Money System 41
Chapter 8 Problems and Predicaments 53
Chapter 9 What is Wealth? (Hint: It’s Not Money) 57
Part III Economy
Chapter 10 Debt 65
Chapter 11 The Great Credit Bubble 79
Chapter 12 Like a Moth to Flame: Our Destructive Tendency to Print 95
Chapter 13 Fuzzy Numbers 103
Chapter 14 Starting the Race with Our Shoes Tied Together 115
Part IV Energy
Chapter 15 Energy and the Economy 125
Chapter 16 Peak Oil 141
Chapter 17 Necessary but Insufficient: Coal, Nuclear, and Alternatives 159
Chapter 18 Why Technology Can’t Fix This 177
Part V Environment
Chapter 19 Minerals: Gone with the Wind 187
Chapter 20 Soil: Thin, Thinner, Gone 197
Chapter 21 Parched: The Coming Water Wars 205
Chapter 22 All Fished Out 213
Part VI Convergence
Chapter 23 Convergence: Why the Twenty-Teens Will Be Difficult 219
Chapter 24 Closing the Book on Growth 227
Chapter 25 Future Scenarios 231
Part VII What Should I Do?
Chapter 26 The Good News: We Already Have Everything We Need 249
Chapter 27 What Should I Do? 255
Chapter 28 The Opportunities 267
Appendix 277
Notes 279
Index 291
Giới thiệu về tác giả
CHRIS MARTENSON, PHD, MBA, is an economic researcher and futurist who speaks to audiences around the world on The Crash Course. He runs Peak Prosperity.com, a popular website on the global economy.
Chris began his career as a scientist, earning a Ph D in pathology from Duke University and an MBA from Cornell. He became vice president of a large international company and believed he had achieved the American Dream, living with his family in a large waterfront home in Connecticut. He was jolted out of complacency by the bear market of 2001 and used his background in finance to investigate the workings of our monetary system. What he discovered changed his life.
Today Chris lives with his wife, Becca, and their three kids in rural Massachusetts, where they enjoy a more resilient and independent lifestyle, with fewer things, better relationships with their neighbors, and a higher quality of life.
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