The crash course : an honest approach to facing the future of our economy, energy, and environment / Chris Martenson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martenson, Chris, 1962- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sustainable development--United States.

Sustainable development.

Economic forecasting--United States.

Economic forecasting.

United States--Economic conditions--2009-.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (335 pages)

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2023]

Summary:

Discover how and why the world's crises are interconnected and what you can do to prepare for the next one The world is experiencing a series of crises. In The Crash Course: An Honest Approach to Facing the Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment, Revised Edition, veteran executive and strategist Chris Martenson delivers an incisive and eye-opening exploration that explains why the reader needs to understand that it is the interconnectedness of the various crises that matters most. From energy shortages to climate instability, financial crises, supply chain disruptions, pandemics, war, and crop failures, you'll discover the common factor that is driving them all and how to adapt to volatile new realities and safeguard your own personal wealth, health, and community. In the book, you'll find effective solutions for living with unpredictability and change, as well as: A workable framework for understanding the "how" and "why" of dramatic societal, environmental, and economic transformation A rich set of solutions, complete with examples, you can use to draw inspiration and motivation to act in your own life An expansive amount of new material, fully updated since the last edition A transformative and thought-provoking strategic playbook for managing increasingly unexpected events, crises, and revolutions, The Crash Course, Revised Edition is an essential resource for anyone concerned about their retirement savings, the world's environment, as well as anyone hoping to become more independent and self-reliant.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I How to Approach the Next Twenty Years

Chapter 1 The Coming Storm

Chapter 2 The Lens

Chapter 3 A World Worth Inheriting

Chapter 4 Trust Yourself

Conflicts of Interest

You Are the Ultimate Truth-Teller

Instincts Can Save You

Head and Heart

Part II Foundation

Chapter 5 Dangerous Exponentials

More on the Concept of Exponential Growth

Speeding Up

Making It Real

Surrounded by Exponentials

The Rule of 70

Your Exponential World

Chapter 6 Problems versus Predicaments

Chapter 7 An Inconvenient Lie

Chapter 8 Complex Systems

Systems-Open versus Closed

Economists-Closed Minds

Our Complex World

Chapter 9 Our Money System

Full Faith and Credit

How Hyperinflation Happens

Money Creation

A Quick Anecdote on People's Understanding of Money

Back to Our Story

The Fed

Two Kinds of Money-One Exponential System

The Trouble with Future Claims on Wealth

Chapter 10 What Is Wealth?

The Hierarchy of Wealth

Money and Wealth

The Nature of Wealth

Part III Economy

Chapter 11 Debt

What Is Debt?

Levels of Debt

Debt Distorts GDP

Good Debt and Bad Debt

The Crisis Explained in One Table

The History of Debt

This Time Is Different

Too Much Debt

Debt's Massive Assumption

How It Unfolds

Chapter 12 The Great Credit Bubble

What Is a Bubble?

Bubble History

Bubble Characteristics

A Bubble 50 Years in the Making

Withering Heights

Chapter 13 Like a Moth to Flame

The Moths

The Flame

Quantitative Easing

The Central Bank's Reign of Error

Chapter 14 Fuzzy Numbers

Administrative Bias

Inflation

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

And All the Rest

Chapter 15 Crumbling Before Our Eyes

The Story of . . . Concrete?.

Summing It Up

Part IV Energy

Chapter 16 Energy and the Economy

The Master Resource

Energy Budgeting

Net Energy

The Economy and Energy

We Live Like Gods

Chapter 17 Peak Oil

Petro-Realities

Bombshell! Saudi Arabia Fesses Up to Peak Oil

It's Not "Running Out"

Find First, Then Pump

A Global Peak?

Oil and GDP

The Oil Production Output Gap

Peak Exports

The Ugly Power of Reverse Compounding

Chapter 18 Shale Oil

Shale Oil-Amazing Technology, but Expensive Oil

Shale Oil-Game Changer or Retirement Party?

Fledged on a Cliff

International Shale

Chapter 19 Necessary but Insufficient

Simple Math

The European Energy Disaster of 2022

The Reality-Time, Scale, Cost, Limits

The Nuclear Option

The Coal Story

The Alternatives-Solar and Wind

Biofuels

Natural Gas

Hydrogen

Conclusion

Chapter 20 Why Technology Can't Fix This

Fact 1: Technology Does Not Create Energy

Fact 2: Transforming Energy Is Expensive

Fact 3: Energy Transitions Take Time

Why Technology Can't Fix This

Part V Environment

Chapter 21 Minerals

Quantity and Quality (Again)

Economic Growth and Minerals

The End of an Era

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Gone with the Wind

Chapter 22 Soil

Do We Heat or Do We Eat?

The Important Difference Between Soil and Dirt

Exporting Nutrients

The High (Energy) Cost of Low-Cost Fertilizers

Soil Erosion and Desertification

Chapter 23 Parched

Running Dry

What Lies Beneath

Exporting Water-The Food Story

The Food Bubble

Energy and Water

The Future of Water

Chapter 24 All Fished Out

The Oxygen You Breathe

The Great Thiamine (B1) Mystery

The Bottom Line

Chapter 25 What Do You Mean We're Running Out of Sand?

Part VI Convergence

Chapter 26 Where Have All the Insects Gone?.

Chapter 27 The Bumpy Path to 2030

The Foundation

The Economy

Energy

The Environment

"Unsustainable"

Convergence: The Timeline

Part VII What Should I Do?

Chapter 28 The Good News

Technology

Food

Economy and Money

Population

A New Narrative

The Good News . . .

Chapter 29 Closing the Book on Growth

Chapter 30 What Should I Do?

Simpler, Harder, and More Expensive

Becoming Resilient

Re·sil·ience

The Bare Minimum

Where to Live

Insufficient, but Necessary

Set Targets

Being in Service

Step 0

The Importance of Community

What's the First Thing I Should Do?

Chapter 31 Build Up Your Capital!

Home

Cry Once

Health

Nature Connection

Mastering Stress

The Spiritual Side

Wealth

The Great Wealth Transfer

The Scarcity Mindset

Protecting Your Monetary Wealth

Build Your Knowledge and Skills

Use Time Wisely

Community Capital

Local Culture Matters

Finding a Culture That Serves You

Appendix

Notes

Index

EULA.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781394168873

139416887X

9781394168880

1394168888

OCLC:

1370498901