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You f***ers shouldn’t have repealed Glass Steagall AND bought a McMansion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