I spent 5 years in the "internet wilderness" learning, reading, and gathering. I have to admit, there's a lot of junk out there along with some real diamonds. In the interest of saving you a bunch of time performing the same journey of discovery, I present to you the "best of the best."

Everything is organized by subject category.

Enjoy.

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Hard numbers: The economy is worse than you know

One of the greatest risks we face is the fact that we’ve been lying to ourselves about the true state of our condition. In this article veteran author Kevin Phillips takes us through some of the most common statistical lies such as inflation, unemployment, and GDP. The effect of lying to ourselves is that we’ve created a false sense of economic progress that has fostered unnaturally low interest rates, excessive government borrowing, and an unsustainable (and dangerous) reliance on debt.

How Safe is My FDIC Insured Bank Account?

Your bank account may not be as safe as you think (or hope). Taking a deeper look at the legal details, and the financial depth of the FDIC reveals several troubling details that call into question how the FDIC would fare during a true banking crisis.

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The End of Money

This is my explanation of the math problem that lies at the very heart of our entire economic system. It explains the exponential nature of our monetary system.

How Debt Money Goes Broke

Since all money is loaned into existence, it means that there is always more debt than money in the system at any one time. When does this mathematically break down? Can we predict this? The answer is, yes, we can predict the end, and it happens when not enough new money is loaned into existence to cover the interest payments on all the outstanding debt. Currently, this means that ~$2 trillion of new borrowing must be located each year...with the number climbing exponentially each year (see The Crash Course Compounding slide for an explanation). Steven Lachance explains this brilliantly in this linked article.

Closing The Collapse Gap

This is a classic slide show by Dmitry Orlov that compares the experience of the former Soviet Union - the only other economic superpower to collapse in modern history - to the US. He'll make you laugh, cry, and renew your passport.

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The US Is Insolvent

The US is insolvent. There is simply no way for our national bills to be paid under current levels of taxation and promised benefits. Our combined federal deficits now total more than 400% of GDP. This fact alone could/should cause us to stop everything and ponder the implications. After all, broke countries don't really do all that much besides break down and start over. Perhaps we'll be different than every other country in history? Don't count on it.

An Immoral Level of Debt

Are the current levels of debt in the US placing an immoral burden on succeeding generations? Here I make the argument that they are. This is the companion piece to Crash Course chapter 10, on Debt.

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Robert Hirsch led a study of peak oil that was highly instrumental in shaping my belief that we’re late to the game and that the scale and scope of the challenge is too massive to be tinkered away. There is just no combination of Ethanol and electric scooters that are going to allow us to preserve our current way of life. Certainly we will find other ways to live, but the sooner you let go of the hope that we’ll somehow build enough of the right kind of smart cars to avoid making some significant modifications to our lives, the better.

Earth's Natural Wealth: an Audit

23 May 2007

This article is one of the first to ask the question “How long before the earth’s metallic resources are used up?” While the data is not robust enough to answer this question with any certainty, this article pulls together enough to raise the possibility that the end is already in sight for several rare earth metals. As in, perhaps less than a decade away. But even not-so-rare metals such as Zinc and Copper have observable endpoints in their known reserves that are measured in decades, and not very many of them at that. And even these endpoints do not factor in the impact of peak oil which will certainly render many of the current low yield deposits uneconomic well before their theoretical total yield has been exhausted.

 

Jimmy Carter's 1977 Proposed Energy Plan Speech

On April 18th, 1977, President Jimmy Carter delivered one of the most prescient and important speeches on energy ever given by a sitting US president. Oh that we had heeded his advice. Instead, our country voted for “morning in America” and turned its collective back on the topic of energy security. Back in 1977 we still had time to transform our country as we were not yet on the vertical portion of our energy consumption curve. Now our options are severely limited as much by the limited time remaining as the actual energy reality. I get chills when I read a speech like this and only can wonder at how it is that such a speech seems like such an utter impossibility today. Certainly none of the current presidential candidates (in 2008) are anywhere close to this level of understanding about our current predicament.

 

Energy Bulletin - Peak Oil Primer

This article does a fantastic job of explaining peak oil. Start here if you're just starting out on this topic.

Life After The Oil Crash

Matt Savinar put together this primer on Peak Oil a few years back in a Q&A format that is quite effective. Not for the faint of heart, this site takes an unblinking look at the role of oil in society...and what the decline of oil implies about our future.

Wikipedia.org - Peak Oil

This Wikipedia entry is a very sedate, if bland, complete overview of peak oil. It's a Sergeant Joe Friday recitation of 'just the facts ma'am' that you'd be hard pressed to get riled up about. Might be the perfect introduction to peak oil for some people you know.

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Dr. Albert Bartlett Explains Compounding

To get the best possible understanding of the issues involved in exponential growth, while spending only 20-30 minutes doing so, please read this supremely excellent transcript of a speech given by Dr. Albert Bartlett. This paper transformed my thinking and I consider it extremely important to understanding the lion's share of where our future difficulties may lie.

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History of US Money by Michael Browning

Join guest columnist Michael Browning, truly one of the most astute observers of markets and financial history that I have ever run across, as he takes you from 1871 to present in only 2 pages of text. This article will help you see that our money system has always been prone to operating in fits and starts, but that we are truly in uncharted territory now.

The Story of Money - Federal Reserve Comic Book Publication

For a great explanation of How Money Is Created, to complement Section 8 of The Crash Course, you can order a fine comic book directly from the Federal Reserve system (at no cost!) by following the link above. Truly, it is both bizarre and strangely comforting to see the sleight-of-hand mechanics of money creation explained in comic book format.

 

Wikipedia.org - Explanation of Money

This is a great primer on what money is, types, and characteristics. The reason I recommend reading this is because the background and context are foundational to understanding why our current money system is both fragile and violating one or more of the key 'rules' of being money.

Wikipedia.org - History of Money

OK, perhaps I am just a sucker for all things money, but this section on the history of money is really just fascinating. The older I get the more I appreciate history and all it has to teach us. I highly recommend this for the background it provides, and because it may well spur some interesting thoughts and conversations.