wtf is up with the economy

The tragicomedy of human economic interdependence in

three acts - involving mullets, cocaine,

quantitative easing, the case-shiller

price index, and, ultimately,

farmers markets.

ERIC GARLAND

America:it’s the Greatest country in the history of America

PLEASE STOP WRECKING

THE ECONOMY

IN CASE NOBODY HAS ASKED YOU TO REFRAIN FROM THIS PARTICULAR BEHAVIOR YET

Original sin

You f***ers shouldn’t have repealed Glass Steagall AND bought a McMansion

and left derivatives unregulated!

BEWARE RAPE PTERODACTYLS

that is, media scare tactics about why the economy suddenly “collapses” - often blaming you, the individual consumer instead of policymakers.

RAPE PTERODACTYLS recently

seen in flight

This formula destroyed

the economy!!! wait, The greeks did it!

The SPanish did it!

The greeks did it!

Umm... Cypriots did it!

PRINCIPAL INQUIRIES:

1. how did everything

get so F***ed?

2. WHat, if anything do

we do next?

BORING HISTORICAL PART

MY historical thesis:

american capitalism defeated communism so well

that it moved on to defeating...capitalism.

And maybe democracy. and definitely common sense.

the cold war was economic

“Your own working class will bury you”

1970s

Climbing GDP - sexual revolution -

cuyahoga river on fire - LEISURE SUITS -

UNIONS - BENEFITS - RETIREMENT

1980s

Atari - wall street - aids - YUPPIES

THE DEAD KENNEDYS - LEVERAGED BUYOUTS

THIS IS THE SOCIETY

THAT DEFEATED THE

SOVIET EMPIRE

the arts flourished throughout the land.

racial tensions were finally resolved.

Cocaine provided the energy required to build a strong

financial sector.

Space exploration continued apace

honest, competent government ruled the land

the tech sector of the 1980s was vibrant

THE IPAD OF ITS DAY, CROWN JEWEL OF

AMERICAN INNOVATION:

THE PLYMOUTH K CAR

AND SUDDENLY...IT WAS KIND OF OVER

THE 1990sWhen chicks started dressing like hobos,

I REMOVED MY MULLET, THE ECONOMY FUNCTIONED

REASONABLY WELL, AND WE LAUNCHED THE INTERNET

Dear generation y:No, seriously, the 1990s worked like this

Economy kicks

buttGo to

collegeGraduate

Get Crappy

jobGet BETter

job

watch friends on

nice couch

It Looks lame now, but even thenwe Knew it would change the world

1999 - a year when spending $1000 on an

office chair somehow made sense.

LONG BEFORE BITCOIN,WHOOPI GOLDBERG LAUNCHED HER OWN

INTERNET-BASED CURRENCY. NO, REALLY.

FOR YEARS, CULTURAL TERRORISTS ATTEMPTED

TO CONNECT THE INTERNET TO “TELESMELL”

Them banks sure seem like

trustworthy fellers!

CLINTON DOES TWO IMPORTANT THINGS WHEN

NOT TESTIFYING ABOUT HIS PENIS:1. Lift glass-steagall

2. Allow derivatives to go unregulated

The 2000sthe years we just started making shit up

History QUIZ:

This “scheme” is named after which Italian-AMerican?

LONG AGO, MEN actually WENT TO JAIL FOR BANKRUPTING PEOPLE

Late 90s party atmosphere: officially over.

Background: AMERICA WENT FROM STEEL AND OIL TO

DEBT AND COMPLEXITY INSIDE OF 30 YEARS

With nothing good on the actual economic horizon,America just starts inventing markets out of fairy farts and unicorn tears

SUPPORTED BY CHEAP MONEY AND FRAUD, HOUSING PRICES NEARLY DOUBLED IN A FOUR

YEAR PERIOD

WE BEGAN WATCHING SHOWS ABOUT THE crapper.

American MEDIA: NOT A SOURCE OF CRITICAL INSIGHT

not content to just make a bubble in housing, we also blow an insane bubble in big box retail

...BUT THE REAL HORROR SHOW IS IN THE BACK ROOM.Banks are creating trillions in derivatives.

Debt and complexity goes parabolic...and then

OH, fuck

FALL, 2008

THE AFTERMATH - 2009 - ???

DEVELOPMENTS that SOME people are probably ENJOYING,

JUST NOT YOU

BANKING COMPENSATION HAS DECOUPLED FROM THE RESULTS OF THE LARGER ECONOMY

WAGES ARE AT THEIR LOWEST LEVEL in a century

AS A SHARE OF national wealth.

TAXES HAVE BEEN CUT DRAMATICALLY over the last 30

years of boom and bust - ESPECIALLY FOR THE WEALTHY

the recovery already happened...FOR CORPORATE PROFITS

PERHAPS THERE ARE OCCULT REASONS FOR OUR MALAISE...THE PRICE OF OIL, FOR EXAMPLE

NOTE THE CORRELATION OF HIGH PRICES OF FLEET FUEL

AND THE PERIODS WE CALL “RECESSIONS”

NOW LOOK AT THE IEA FORECASTS...WE DON’T KNOW FROM WHENCE HALF OF OUR FUTURE OIL IS COMING

MEANWHILE, POVERTY IS SPREADING

STUDENT LOANS HAVE OUTPACED CONSUMER CREDIT......AND THERE IS NO BANKRUPTCY FROM THEM.

AMERICAN YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IS HIGH, AND EUROPEAN

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT WOULDN’T FIT ON THIS CHART

Are the kids giving up hope,

or just getting wise?

A MAJOR GENERATIONAL CLASH is ON THE WAY -MILLENNIALS ARE BEING EXCLUDED FROM THE ECONOMY.

WHAT WE DO ABOUT IT:

Very cool stuff that people are

working on to make the future

economy more fun and

more functional

There are no mullets or cocaine

in this part

(UNLESS YOU WANT)

Alternative currencies

A centralized group of kinda corrupt people runs the money? Get new money.

Complementary currency

alternativecurrency

new currency scheme

TIME BANKING

Centralized control of monetary systems leaving you with too much time, not enough money?

Use time banking as a direct exchange between labor and goods/services.

CROWD FUNDING

Are megabanks more interested in speculation than getting people money for socially useful projects?

Fund your own damn projects!

RESILIENCE MOVEMENT

fatigued incompetent leadership at the top of various pyramids, people are going local and resilient.

forget distant bureaucrats - rely on your neighbors.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THESE INSTITUTIONS,

MAKE SOME NEW ONES.

START SMALL.

HAVE FUN.

IT’S NOT JUST BETTER THAN COMPLAINING,

IT’S THE OPPOSITE OF COMPLAINING.

@ericgarland

#wtfeconomy

FACEBOOK.COM/ericgarlandfuture