The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment

✍ Scribed by Martenson, Chris

• Book ID: 107557788
• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1 MB
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780470927649

✦ Synopsis

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 timethe ''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.

From the Author: Warning Signs for the Planet

Author Dr. Chris Martenson Warning signs for our minerals and energy supply:
Oil discoveries peaked in 1964
New oil discoveries have been outpaced by oil consumption by nearly 4 to 1 each year
Known deposits of several critical minerals will be completely exhausted within 20 years, assuming the energy is there to extract them. Others will peak all on their own soon thereafter, and even sooner if Peak Oil limits our ability to obtain them.
New ore deposits are getting harder to find, more remote, deeper down, more dilute, and/or all of the above.

Warning signs for our food and water supply:
World population will climb to 9.5 billion by 2050.
Nearly all high-quality arable land is already under production.
Food yields are heavily dependent on fertilizers, which are either energy intensive to make or are being depleted and will someday peak.
Soils are being mined by the practice of removing essential nutrients without replacing them.

Warning signs for our environment:
40% decline in oceanic phytoplankton since 1950
Birds, bees, and bats in serious population decline over the past few years
Fisheries collapsing all over the globe
Mercury levels in marine mammals so high that the EPA would treat their carcasses as toxic waste
Sterilized soils and advancing deserts
Species extinction rates that rival anything in geologic records

From the Inside Flap

The next twenty years will be completely unlike the last twenty years. The decisions you make today are critical. 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 timethe ''Twenty-Teens.'' With solid facts and grounded reasoning presented in a calm, nonpartisan manner, The Crash Course explains our predicament and illuminates the path ahead so you can face the coming disruptions without fearing the future or retreating into denial.

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, have shuddered to a halt and are reversing, with severe and lasting consequences.

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 in order to protect themselves and their families, mitigate risks as much as possible, and control what effects they can. With challenge comes opportunity. The Crash Course offers a positive vision for how our lives can become more balanced, resilient, and sustainable.

The world is changing. It's time to get busy. The Crash Course will show you how.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Crash Course

''Chris Martenson gave up a successful and conventional career to study the two great problems that we face: running out of critical resourcesespecially carbon-based energyand a congenital failure to process unpleasant facts. Reading The Crash Course will help you recognize how dangerous our future is likely to be and will help you prepare for it. It is a job well done.'' Jeremy Grantham, cofounder and Chief Investment Strategist, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo

''Among the handful of observers making sense of the economic scene, Chris Martenson is the most astute, coherent, and comprehensive. Reading Chris is like stepping out of a room full of smoke and mirrors into daylight.'' James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency

''Economists did not predict the Great Recession of 2008; Chris did. He looks deeper into the numbers than most and has found a painful future if we do not make a major turn. I deeply appreciate him for doing this work. He uses hard data to back up the self-evident common sense that if we do not consciously manage our natural resources and business relationships to give priority to the common good, we will face dire consequences. This is serious. Read this book.'' Terry Mollner, Board Member, Ben & Jerry's

''Chris addresses fundamental economic and energy issues in understandable terms and provides engaging perspectives. Readers will learn a great deal from his work.'' Dr. Robert L. Hirsch, lead author of The Impending World Energy Mess