A friend pointed me to
Crash Course today. Crash Course is a thoughtful and easy-to-understand explanation of how the US economy got into the current mess and makes some conjectures as to where it is going. (nb:
thoughtful and easy-to-understand does not mean
correct, but the analysis is worth consideration)
The author, Chris Martenson, has a pretty interesting
background and communication style that resonates with my engineering brain.
I recommend going through the entire online course, which is free, even though it will take a few hours. I'm fairly addicted to economic and financial news and books and I was pleasantly surprised at how often Martenson clearly explained something that I previously had trouble understanding (like how the Fed creates money and how much our financial system and economy depend on growth). Martenson also draws links between energy and the money supply that I had not considered previously but I find intriguing.
The most useful part of the course may be the final chapter where Martenson shows how to think through and prepare for the various scenarios yourself via a
Failure Mode Effects Analysis-like process. It's time to break out the spreadsheet.
