The crash course: the unsustainable future of our economy, energy, and environment
John Wiley & Sons - Hoboken
2011
317 p.
climate change ; sustainable development ; energy ; natural resources ; economic forecast
Environment
English
Bibliogr.;Index;Charts
978-1-118-01312-0
16-68812
"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."
Paper
Table of contents:
Table of Contents
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
The ETUI is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ETUI.