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The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment
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.
From the Warning Signs for the Planet
Author Dr. Chris Martenson Warning signs for our minerals and energy
• Oil discoveries peaked in 1964
• New oil discoveries have been outpaced by oil consumption by nearly 4 to 1 each year
• Known deposits of several critical minerals will be completely exhausted within 20 years, assuming the energy is there to extract them. Others will peak all on their own soon thereafter, and even sooner if Peak Oil limits our ability to obtain them.
• New ore deposits are getting harder to find, more remote, deeper down, more dilute, and/or all of the above.
Warning signs for our food and water
• World population will climb to 9.5 billion by 2050.
• Nearly all high-quality arable land is already under production.
• Food yields are heavily dependent on fertilizers, which are either energy intensive to make or are being depleted and will someday peak.
• Soils are being mined by the practice of removing essential nutrients without replacing them.
Warning signs for our
• 40% decline in oceanic phytoplankton since 1950
• Birds, bees, and bats in serious population decline over the past few years
• Fisheries collapsing all over the globe
• Mercury levels in marine mammals so high that the EPA would treat their carcasses as toxic waste
• Sterilized soils and advancing deserts
• Species extinction rates that rival anything in geologic records
From the Warning Signs for the Planet
Author Dr. Chris Martenson Warning signs for our minerals and energy
• Oil discoveries peaked in 1964
• New oil discoveries have been outpaced by oil consumption by nearly 4 to 1 each year
• Known deposits of several critical minerals will be completely exhausted within 20 years, assuming the energy is there to extract them. Others will peak all on their own soon thereafter, and even sooner if Peak Oil limits our ability to obtain them.
• New ore deposits are getting harder to find, more remote, deeper down, more dilute, and/or all of the above.
Warning signs for our food and water
• World population will climb to 9.5 billion by 2050.
• Nearly all high-quality arable land is already under production.
• Food yields are heavily dependent on fertilizers, which are either energy intensive to make or are being depleted and will someday peak.
• Soils are being mined by the practice of removing essential nutrients without replacing them.
Warning signs for our
• 40% decline in oceanic phytoplankton since 1950
• Birds, bees, and bats in serious population decline over the past few years
• Fisheries collapsing all over the globe
• Mercury levels in marine mammals so high that the EPA would treat their carcasses as toxic waste
• Sterilized soils and advancing deserts
• Species extinction rates that rival anything in geologic records
317 pages, Hardcover
First published February 11, 2011
114 people are currently reading
1570 people want to read
About the author
Chris Martenson
10 books18 followersChris Martenson, PhD (Duke), MBA (Cornell) is an economic researcher and futurist specializing in energy and resource depletion.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 14, 2012
The modern global financial system relies on exponential growth of national economies, which has required comparable growth in energy use. We can't sustain this energy use, therefore the growth will end, which will bring about painful changes to the financial system. When it comes, it will affect everyone and life is going to get a lot less fun.
That's Martenson's argument, which is extremely well explained. He writes clearly in a matter-of-fact tone, and the disturbing nature of his message (we're living on a house of cards, built on a lie, fueled by million-year-old sunlight which is going to run out any day now) is only the more disturbing for his easy style. This book isn't exactly a "pleasure" to read, but it is very well written.
Martenson explains things with a combination of clear explanation (e.g., how fractional banking works), analogy or simple thought experiments, and data. The analogies are the bits that worry me: they essentially are appeals to intuition, but I distrust appeals to common sense or intuition. Our world is tricksy and full of surprises. A lot of what he recommends is green (Community Supported Agriculture, household solar, etc.) and I already felt it was the right thing to do. I'm nervous that the rest of the book is playing to my prejudices or flawed intuition.
Sometimes the things Martenson says are the things that nutters say: fiat currency this, gold standard that, end of global financial system as we know it. He doesn't say it like a nutter, and he says many things that those nutters don't say, so I can't pigeonhole him. This book is a fantastic question starter: now I need to sit down with economists and engineers and figure out for myself where, if at all, the accurate descriptions end and the nutty extrapolations begin. Nutters love appeals to our flawed intuition and to common sense. Hence my nervousness.
The first part of the book on economics is the bit that really interested me. The rest of the book, which belabours the end of easy energy, what the collapse might look like, and how to be prepared, didn't light my fire the way the economics did. This is probably because I've already done some research and thinking on energy, but hadn't seen finance through his lens before. I ended up skimming and then abandoning the scenarios and recommendations because the energy stuff I've done (move near arable land) and the economic stuff I'm still skeptical about (buy gold).
My highlights included the observation that surplus can be used for growth or for prosperity, but it takes exceptional surplus to give both. That is, you can plow your profits back in or you can take them out as dividends, but to be able to live high on the hog AND keep growing requires staggering surplus.
I liked his distinction between problems and predicaments. The distinction boils down to this: Problems have solutions; predicaments have outcomes.
This statistic gave me pause, particularly after reading the fantastic Michael Lewis piece about state and city debt: But it’s not just the federal government that has underfunded liabilities totaling in the trillions of dollars. States and municipalities are also deeply underwater on their pension promises. Once we add up all the debts and liabilities of the United States, we discover that they are more than 10 times larger than GDP.
On the bogosity of GDP and Consumer Price Index statistics: Another is the benefit that you receive from the “free checking” provided by your bank, which is imputed to have a value because if it wasn’t free, then, as the logic goes, you’d have to pay for it. So a value is assigned to all the free checking in the land, and that, too, is added to the tally. Together, all of the imputations added up to $2.27 trillion dollars in 2009, out of a total reported national income of $13.94 trillion dollars, or 16 percent of the total.
Loved this quote: Because, as the Greek philosopher Plutarch once observed, “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”
This blew my mind. I can't see a lightbulb or fill the car with petrol in the same way again: And how much “work” is embodied in a gallon of gasoline, our favorite substance of them all? Well, if you put a single gallon in a car, drove it away from your home until the gas ran out, and then got out and pushed the car home, you’d find out exactly how much work a gallon of gasoline can do. It turns out that a gallon of gas has the equivalent energy of somewhere between 350 and 500 hours of human labor.17 Given that a gallon of gas can perform that much human work, how much value would you assign it? How much would 350 to 500 hours of your hard physical labor be worth to you? $4? $10? Assuming you decided not to push your car home and paid someone $15 an hour to do this for you, you’d find that a gallon of gasoline is “worth” $5,250 to $7,500 in human labor.
And a final blown mind: Just to put this in context, as it’s currently configured, food production and distribution uses fully two-thirds of the U.S. domestic oil production.
That's Martenson's argument, which is extremely well explained. He writes clearly in a matter-of-fact tone, and the disturbing nature of his message (we're living on a house of cards, built on a lie, fueled by million-year-old sunlight which is going to run out any day now) is only the more disturbing for his easy style. This book isn't exactly a "pleasure" to read, but it is very well written.
Martenson explains things with a combination of clear explanation (e.g., how fractional banking works), analogy or simple thought experiments, and data. The analogies are the bits that worry me: they essentially are appeals to intuition, but I distrust appeals to common sense or intuition. Our world is tricksy and full of surprises. A lot of what he recommends is green (Community Supported Agriculture, household solar, etc.) and I already felt it was the right thing to do. I'm nervous that the rest of the book is playing to my prejudices or flawed intuition.
Sometimes the things Martenson says are the things that nutters say: fiat currency this, gold standard that, end of global financial system as we know it. He doesn't say it like a nutter, and he says many things that those nutters don't say, so I can't pigeonhole him. This book is a fantastic question starter: now I need to sit down with economists and engineers and figure out for myself where, if at all, the accurate descriptions end and the nutty extrapolations begin. Nutters love appeals to our flawed intuition and to common sense. Hence my nervousness.
The first part of the book on economics is the bit that really interested me. The rest of the book, which belabours the end of easy energy, what the collapse might look like, and how to be prepared, didn't light my fire the way the economics did. This is probably because I've already done some research and thinking on energy, but hadn't seen finance through his lens before. I ended up skimming and then abandoning the scenarios and recommendations because the energy stuff I've done (move near arable land) and the economic stuff I'm still skeptical about (buy gold).
My highlights included the observation that surplus can be used for growth or for prosperity, but it takes exceptional surplus to give both. That is, you can plow your profits back in or you can take them out as dividends, but to be able to live high on the hog AND keep growing requires staggering surplus.
I liked his distinction between problems and predicaments. The distinction boils down to this: Problems have solutions; predicaments have outcomes.
This statistic gave me pause, particularly after reading the fantastic Michael Lewis piece about state and city debt: But it’s not just the federal government that has underfunded liabilities totaling in the trillions of dollars. States and municipalities are also deeply underwater on their pension promises. Once we add up all the debts and liabilities of the United States, we discover that they are more than 10 times larger than GDP.
On the bogosity of GDP and Consumer Price Index statistics: Another is the benefit that you receive from the “free checking” provided by your bank, which is imputed to have a value because if it wasn’t free, then, as the logic goes, you’d have to pay for it. So a value is assigned to all the free checking in the land, and that, too, is added to the tally. Together, all of the imputations added up to $2.27 trillion dollars in 2009, out of a total reported national income of $13.94 trillion dollars, or 16 percent of the total.
Loved this quote: Because, as the Greek philosopher Plutarch once observed, “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.”
This blew my mind. I can't see a lightbulb or fill the car with petrol in the same way again: And how much “work” is embodied in a gallon of gasoline, our favorite substance of them all? Well, if you put a single gallon in a car, drove it away from your home until the gas ran out, and then got out and pushed the car home, you’d find out exactly how much work a gallon of gasoline can do. It turns out that a gallon of gas has the equivalent energy of somewhere between 350 and 500 hours of human labor.17 Given that a gallon of gas can perform that much human work, how much value would you assign it? How much would 350 to 500 hours of your hard physical labor be worth to you? $4? $10? Assuming you decided not to push your car home and paid someone $15 an hour to do this for you, you’d find that a gallon of gasoline is “worth” $5,250 to $7,500 in human labor.
And a final blown mind: Just to put this in context, as it’s currently configured, food production and distribution uses fully two-thirds of the U.S. domestic oil production.
June 24, 2011
The Crash Course: The Unsustainable Future of Our Economy, Energy, and Environment by Chris Martenson, PHD
“The Crash Course” is one of the most important books ever written about the sustainability of our world’s economy. The author makes persuasive arguments that unsustainable trends in the economy, energy and environment will converge to an undesirable predicament of global proportions in the next twenty years. A must read! This 317-page book is composed of the following seven parts: Part 1. How to Approach the Next Twenty Years, Part II. Foundation, Part. III. Economy, Part IV. Energy, Part V. Environment, Part VI. Convergence, Part VII. What should I do?
Positives:
1. Wow! What a great book!
2. One of the best researched books you will ever read…this was truly a labor of love and we should all be thankful for such a contribution.
3. Engaging prose. A page-turner.
4. Profound, thought-provoking book without being unintelligible. Accessible and comprehensive.
5. One of the most even-handed books you will ever read. This book is about our immediate economic predicament. It’s not about placing blame, it’s too late for that, and it’s about action and what each and every one of us can do. Bravo!
6. Enlightening, educational and one of the most rewarding books I’ve ever purchased.
7. A fascinating personal account that gave birth to this project.
8. Understanding scarcity. An economy predicated on never-ending growth is not feasible.
9. Understanding the concept of exponential growth in a comprehensive manner.
10. Understanding the difference between prosperity which we should strive for versus growth.
11. Understanding our debt-based monetary system.
12. The distinction between predicament and problem.
13. The fallacy of debt markets. Various forms of debts.
14. The distinction between debt and liabilities.
15. The realization of how much debt we truly are as a country, oh my science!
16. Many aha moments, but none more frightening than the clear realization that our economy is in peril and we must do something about it…
17. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles…what they are and why they burst. And what’s next bubble? Insightful indeed.
18. Great thought-provoking quotes, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
19. How politicians change the definition of important financial terms to make the economy look better than it actually is.
20. Great use of charts and illustrations to convey important concepts.
21. The realization that our standards of living will fall in the future.
22. The best explanation I’ve read of entropy in the context of economy.
23. The importance of Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) concept.
24. Oil…a “slick” explanation of the reality of it.
25. Various forms of energy discussed and put in proper context.
26. Laws of thermodynamics and how it clarifies our predicament.
27. “Technology can provide a lot of things but it cannot violate the laws of the universe.”
28. The distinction between soil and dirt. The importance of soil.
29. So much wisdom in this one book. I can go on and on…”Running out” isn’t really our immediate concern; “peaking” is.
30. A future of water shortage? Wow…enlightening. Understand why and it’s direct impact on food shortages.
31. How humans are exerting unsustainable pressures upon the world’s oceans.
32. A great section of what we can do to ameliorate our predicament. Good sound practical approach.
33. Provides great resources and links for further research.
34. Provides a list of future opportunities.
35. Links worked great!
Negatives:
1. Having to buy extra copies of this fantastic book for friends. This book is that important.
In summary, this is one of the most important and best books I’ve ever read. Mr. Martenson should be commended for having the knowledge, desire and ability to convey such an important and timely message. This is a book that has inspired me. Read it!
“The Crash Course” is one of the most important books ever written about the sustainability of our world’s economy. The author makes persuasive arguments that unsustainable trends in the economy, energy and environment will converge to an undesirable predicament of global proportions in the next twenty years. A must read! This 317-page book is composed of the following seven parts: Part 1. How to Approach the Next Twenty Years, Part II. Foundation, Part. III. Economy, Part IV. Energy, Part V. Environment, Part VI. Convergence, Part VII. What should I do?
Positives:
1. Wow! What a great book!
2. One of the best researched books you will ever read…this was truly a labor of love and we should all be thankful for such a contribution.
3. Engaging prose. A page-turner.
4. Profound, thought-provoking book without being unintelligible. Accessible and comprehensive.
5. One of the most even-handed books you will ever read. This book is about our immediate economic predicament. It’s not about placing blame, it’s too late for that, and it’s about action and what each and every one of us can do. Bravo!
6. Enlightening, educational and one of the most rewarding books I’ve ever purchased.
7. A fascinating personal account that gave birth to this project.
8. Understanding scarcity. An economy predicated on never-ending growth is not feasible.
9. Understanding the concept of exponential growth in a comprehensive manner.
10. Understanding the difference between prosperity which we should strive for versus growth.
11. Understanding our debt-based monetary system.
12. The distinction between predicament and problem.
13. The fallacy of debt markets. Various forms of debts.
14. The distinction between debt and liabilities.
15. The realization of how much debt we truly are as a country, oh my science!
16. Many aha moments, but none more frightening than the clear realization that our economy is in peril and we must do something about it…
17. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles…what they are and why they burst. And what’s next bubble? Insightful indeed.
18. Great thought-provoking quotes, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
19. How politicians change the definition of important financial terms to make the economy look better than it actually is.
20. Great use of charts and illustrations to convey important concepts.
21. The realization that our standards of living will fall in the future.
22. The best explanation I’ve read of entropy in the context of economy.
23. The importance of Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) concept.
24. Oil…a “slick” explanation of the reality of it.
25. Various forms of energy discussed and put in proper context.
26. Laws of thermodynamics and how it clarifies our predicament.
27. “Technology can provide a lot of things but it cannot violate the laws of the universe.”
28. The distinction between soil and dirt. The importance of soil.
29. So much wisdom in this one book. I can go on and on…”Running out” isn’t really our immediate concern; “peaking” is.
30. A future of water shortage? Wow…enlightening. Understand why and it’s direct impact on food shortages.
31. How humans are exerting unsustainable pressures upon the world’s oceans.
32. A great section of what we can do to ameliorate our predicament. Good sound practical approach.
33. Provides great resources and links for further research.
34. Provides a list of future opportunities.
35. Links worked great!
Negatives:
1. Having to buy extra copies of this fantastic book for friends. This book is that important.
In summary, this is one of the most important and best books I’ve ever read. Mr. Martenson should be commended for having the knowledge, desire and ability to convey such an important and timely message. This is a book that has inspired me. Read it!
May 10, 2012
Given that I already read a great deal of science fiction that is somewhat dystopian, it should come as no surprise that I would pick up an economics book that has what at first glance might seem to be a similar perspective. Let's face it, biological systems have limits, and if you do not respect those limits, then biology has a harsh way of educating you on your oversight. Anyone who has spent any time in a biology lab has likely seen the cycle of exponential growth followed by a crash when the growth outstrips the resources available.
So.......given this biological imperative, Chris Martenson looks at the current global economy and questions the fundamental assumptions held by many economist about the potential for unending growth. He questions the wisdom of continuing to burn through energy for that growth and the sustainability of the economy if we continue until the point at which nature informs us of our oversight. His case is pretty clearly outlined, and if his data are correct, then we should all be taking a moment to reconsider the choices we are making in our lives.
All in all a good read if you would like to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
So.......given this biological imperative, Chris Martenson looks at the current global economy and questions the fundamental assumptions held by many economist about the potential for unending growth. He questions the wisdom of continuing to burn through energy for that growth and the sustainability of the economy if we continue until the point at which nature informs us of our oversight. His case is pretty clearly outlined, and if his data are correct, then we should all be taking a moment to reconsider the choices we are making in our lives.
All in all a good read if you would like to plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
July 10, 2011
This book thoroughly shows how unsustainable our economic system is. Any system which relies on exponential growth in a finite world is doomed to failure. That failure is what we are witnessing now as we bump up against environmental limits (peak oil, overfishing, lack of irrigation water for food crops, etc.) The next 20 years are not gonna look like the last 20 years of economic growth. Martenson shows us how to begin to get ready.
Favorite quote: "Nature doesn't do bailouts."
Favorite quote: "Nature doesn't do bailouts."
August 26, 2011
Chris lays it all out in this one. I have learned a lot from this book and from his video crash course and online community.
We should all be prepared to think critically about the systems (economic, environmental, food, water, transportation, etc) that we take for granted every day. These systems are not sustainable. No argument can be made that they are. It is time to begin preparing for a transition to new, sustainable systems.
This is not a hippie book.
We should all be prepared to think critically about the systems (economic, environmental, food, water, transportation, etc) that we take for granted every day. These systems are not sustainable. No argument can be made that they are. It is time to begin preparing for a transition to new, sustainable systems.
This is not a hippie book.
September 7, 2018
My biggest takeaway from Martenson's impeccably researched book is that growth and prosperity are not the same. The entire world economy is geared to not just ordinary growth in basically everything, but exponential growth. Martenson documents that this cannot continue forever, and in fact, is likely to start manifesting itself much sooner than expected.
There is a huge amount of material to consider, but I was particularly struck by his 'real world' description of how exponential growth can be demonstrated: "Imagine that you're in... Wembley Stadium. Suppose we take our magic eye dropper to that enormous structure, and right at 12:00pm we place 1 drop way down in the middle of the field. To make this even more interesting, suppose that the park is watertight and that you're handcuffed to one of the very highest bleacher seats. My question to you is this: How long do have to escape from the handcuffs? When would the park be filled (by doubling the single drop of water once per minute)? Do you have days? Weeks? Months? Years? How long before the park is overflowing?
The answer is this: You have until exactly 12:50pm on that same day. Just 50 minutes, to figure out you're going to escape from the handcuffs."
Martenson demonstrates that the world economy is operating (and must operate) on the basis of exponential growth. Scary and essential reading. 5 stars.
There is a huge amount of material to consider, but I was particularly struck by his 'real world' description of how exponential growth can be demonstrated: "Imagine that you're in... Wembley Stadium. Suppose we take our magic eye dropper to that enormous structure, and right at 12:00pm we place 1 drop way down in the middle of the field. To make this even more interesting, suppose that the park is watertight and that you're handcuffed to one of the very highest bleacher seats. My question to you is this: How long do have to escape from the handcuffs? When would the park be filled (by doubling the single drop of water once per minute)? Do you have days? Weeks? Months? Years? How long before the park is overflowing?
The answer is this: You have until exactly 12:50pm on that same day. Just 50 minutes, to figure out you're going to escape from the handcuffs."
Martenson demonstrates that the world economy is operating (and must operate) on the basis of exponential growth. Scary and essential reading. 5 stars.
April 15, 2012
The boomsters have had their decade and more, and the time is now ripe for the doomsters to take the stage. Martenson arrives with a CV which includes a PhD in physics, a high management post in a large company, a track record of having made successful financial and career decisions a decade ago which allowed him to prosper in the recession, and history of adopting a family comes first survivalist life style. He also runs a financial advisory website with suggestions based on the ideas in his book, as well as courses and lectures.
His book is a polemic of parts of the socioeconomic theories most famously expressed 200 years ago by Malthus, and he strips down the modern economy to reveal in his view that at heart it is based on agriculture, which it was in Malthus's time. His social theory is based on backwoodsman-like family survival. Like Malthus he uses the mathematics of geometric progression contrasted with linear progression to produce fearful scenarios of starvation and catastrophic economic collapse. He ignores or gives short shrift to all the counterarguments that have been advanced over the years. His three main themes centre around energy-supply, the environment and the economy all of which he sees as moving in an unstoppable negative direction. He writes well, is pacey, and persuasive.
Books like this are useful to see how an argument can be developed, in the same way that a good lawyer can make a persuasive and moving case. And like a good lawyer the argument plays on emotions, in this case fear. They are entertainment and should not be mistaken for serious works of scholarship.
His book is a polemic of parts of the socioeconomic theories most famously expressed 200 years ago by Malthus, and he strips down the modern economy to reveal in his view that at heart it is based on agriculture, which it was in Malthus's time. His social theory is based on backwoodsman-like family survival. Like Malthus he uses the mathematics of geometric progression contrasted with linear progression to produce fearful scenarios of starvation and catastrophic economic collapse. He ignores or gives short shrift to all the counterarguments that have been advanced over the years. His three main themes centre around energy-supply, the environment and the economy all of which he sees as moving in an unstoppable negative direction. He writes well, is pacey, and persuasive.
Books like this are useful to see how an argument can be developed, in the same way that a good lawyer can make a persuasive and moving case. And like a good lawyer the argument plays on emotions, in this case fear. They are entertainment and should not be mistaken for serious works of scholarship.
July 10, 2012
It was a great book on economics. Chris Martenson wrote the book in very simple words and without any over complicated terms. He explains the connection between environment, economics and energy (the three E's) which is also the main idea of the book. Martenson suggests that the way of how people live and life quality will change by getting simple. People will rethink their way of setting the priorities and goals.
The books is basically a opinion of the author of what is going to happened with the three E's. It also supplies a lot of evidence for his theories. Even if you won't agree with the author it is still a must read.
The books is basically a opinion of the author of what is going to happened with the three E's. It also supplies a lot of evidence for his theories. Even if you won't agree with the author it is still a must read.
April 5, 2011
Ugh. Chris Martenson breaks it all down better than anyone I have ever read.....including JH Kunstler and Michael Ruppert. We are in for a world of hurt if we don't change how we do things and our insistence upon economic growth at all costs. For a very long time I have been saying that we should work towards stable economies, and that our quest for ever increasing growth is not only bad all the way around, but completely unsustainable.
Chris Martenson helped me understand just why I was correct all along.
Chris Martenson helped me understand just why I was correct all along.
August 5, 2016
I believe people rate books like this not so much based on how well the author wrote it, but how much they agree with the author. So those who agree with Martenson's thesis will tend to give him four or five stars.
I think Martenson laid out some great arguments, many in lengthy detail. He also did this mostly in an easy to understand language, and often went into text book-like language for those who may be unfamiliar with a given topic. Martenson did an excellent job in making his work accessible to the masses, and that is his intent. He is an evangelist and wishes to bring forth his message through as many people as possible.
There are parts where I believe he belabors his point, however. The book has a lengthy introduction, that is mirrored by a lengthy summary at the end. The true detail of this book is in the middle. So again, I suppose Martenson is writing for all audiences, but really no one needs to read the full book; you can simply read the beginning, end, or middle to get his point, depending on the level of detail you desire. Just to be clear, I read it all, simply because I did not want to miss something important.
The language really is easy to understand, but some of these topics are pretty heavy and will make your head spin. The author says as much. These sections read like a text book, but I congratulate Martenson in trying to educate his reader. It goes along with his point that many of us are so specialized in our jobs that we fail to see all the issues he is talking about.
I thought the foreward was really weak. It was written by someone who skimmed the book and gave us yet another summary of the chapters. It read more like an endorsement for that author's works. The beginning section also had a lot of trash where it made it sound like Chris Martenson is a modern day sage. Funny how when you are seemingly right on one thing people thing you are a genius. Let's be honest, if there was no Great Recession, Martenson's work would not be worth much and it would not have gained the traction it did. Also, you would likely not have read it, or if you did you wouldn't have given him four or five stars and lauded him. The author's work started because of the dot com bubble. He had it in place in time for the Great Recession (and then took advantage of that time to write this book), but he did not predict the Great Recession, though he almost makes it sound as if he did, post facto. In truth his book doesn't have anything to do with the housing crisis, though he is concerned about debt levels. So, I get a bit irritated when people claim to have predicted something, or others credit them with that, and then they are able to take the money to the bank for being "right." Anyway, I think his business would not have taken off, but for the Great Recession. So, he was actually enriched by that event, though he didn't invest in any oddball housing based derivative. He did invest on a thesis of the economy going down the tubes and hard assets. I admire the author for living his talk, and that is the reason I read the book, but let's be honest that most of us would have never been interested in reading it and it never would have been published except for the Great Recession happening.
That said, the author does advance many great points. Kudos for him explaining geometrical growth, and limits to resources in his world. I do not necessarily agree with all his points, or that we are "there" at this point in time, but Martenson clearly believes what he says and has many other believers. This message is unique because it is not simply an environmental book, but he mixes in many different issues and joins them economically. Nevertheless, if you make it to the end of the book, it becomes much more of an environmentalist/people are the problem book. I have more respect and faith for what people can do than what the author portends. Unfortunately it gets into the same concept that people are either dumb or malicious, and either way we need to save them from themselves. We are facing issues now, but that is no different from any other time in history. I am not saying the problems themselves are the same, but major challenges always come up throughout history; that is the nature of this world. We have had horrible wars, disease and famine in the past, that has been the nature of the world. So maybe it would be foolish to believe things will continue as they are, but that is human nature as well. We adapt when we need to. It is possible many people will die because of what Martenson presents, but weren't we worried about nuclear destruction not long ago and wasn't that a much scarier specter? Ironically Martenson wants to make clear that this time really is different, yet he presents much of the "we are all doomed" mantra that has gone on throughout history. Yes, there are those whose heads are in the sand, but there are also those who worry too much and claim the world will end. I am not saying his advice and perspective is not useful, only that much of it should be done regardless. We and our country should live within our means. We should stay fit and get out of debt. We should become more efficient and have more sustainable lives. All that is good advice and the lessons taught in the book are generally good. So on the whole I think it is a good book with good lessons, but the things we need to be worried about are probably the problems we cannot anticipate. The Great Recession proved that, regardless of those who claim they predicted it. So we should move forward with confidence and do our best to thrive in various circumstances, but we can't get caught up on one topic or think we know what the next disaster will be.
I think Martenson laid out some great arguments, many in lengthy detail. He also did this mostly in an easy to understand language, and often went into text book-like language for those who may be unfamiliar with a given topic. Martenson did an excellent job in making his work accessible to the masses, and that is his intent. He is an evangelist and wishes to bring forth his message through as many people as possible.
There are parts where I believe he belabors his point, however. The book has a lengthy introduction, that is mirrored by a lengthy summary at the end. The true detail of this book is in the middle. So again, I suppose Martenson is writing for all audiences, but really no one needs to read the full book; you can simply read the beginning, end, or middle to get his point, depending on the level of detail you desire. Just to be clear, I read it all, simply because I did not want to miss something important.
The language really is easy to understand, but some of these topics are pretty heavy and will make your head spin. The author says as much. These sections read like a text book, but I congratulate Martenson in trying to educate his reader. It goes along with his point that many of us are so specialized in our jobs that we fail to see all the issues he is talking about.
I thought the foreward was really weak. It was written by someone who skimmed the book and gave us yet another summary of the chapters. It read more like an endorsement for that author's works. The beginning section also had a lot of trash where it made it sound like Chris Martenson is a modern day sage. Funny how when you are seemingly right on one thing people thing you are a genius. Let's be honest, if there was no Great Recession, Martenson's work would not be worth much and it would not have gained the traction it did. Also, you would likely not have read it, or if you did you wouldn't have given him four or five stars and lauded him. The author's work started because of the dot com bubble. He had it in place in time for the Great Recession (and then took advantage of that time to write this book), but he did not predict the Great Recession, though he almost makes it sound as if he did, post facto. In truth his book doesn't have anything to do with the housing crisis, though he is concerned about debt levels. So, I get a bit irritated when people claim to have predicted something, or others credit them with that, and then they are able to take the money to the bank for being "right." Anyway, I think his business would not have taken off, but for the Great Recession. So, he was actually enriched by that event, though he didn't invest in any oddball housing based derivative. He did invest on a thesis of the economy going down the tubes and hard assets. I admire the author for living his talk, and that is the reason I read the book, but let's be honest that most of us would have never been interested in reading it and it never would have been published except for the Great Recession happening.
That said, the author does advance many great points. Kudos for him explaining geometrical growth, and limits to resources in his world. I do not necessarily agree with all his points, or that we are "there" at this point in time, but Martenson clearly believes what he says and has many other believers. This message is unique because it is not simply an environmental book, but he mixes in many different issues and joins them economically. Nevertheless, if you make it to the end of the book, it becomes much more of an environmentalist/people are the problem book. I have more respect and faith for what people can do than what the author portends. Unfortunately it gets into the same concept that people are either dumb or malicious, and either way we need to save them from themselves. We are facing issues now, but that is no different from any other time in history. I am not saying the problems themselves are the same, but major challenges always come up throughout history; that is the nature of this world. We have had horrible wars, disease and famine in the past, that has been the nature of the world. So maybe it would be foolish to believe things will continue as they are, but that is human nature as well. We adapt when we need to. It is possible many people will die because of what Martenson presents, but weren't we worried about nuclear destruction not long ago and wasn't that a much scarier specter? Ironically Martenson wants to make clear that this time really is different, yet he presents much of the "we are all doomed" mantra that has gone on throughout history. Yes, there are those whose heads are in the sand, but there are also those who worry too much and claim the world will end. I am not saying his advice and perspective is not useful, only that much of it should be done regardless. We and our country should live within our means. We should stay fit and get out of debt. We should become more efficient and have more sustainable lives. All that is good advice and the lessons taught in the book are generally good. So on the whole I think it is a good book with good lessons, but the things we need to be worried about are probably the problems we cannot anticipate. The Great Recession proved that, regardless of those who claim they predicted it. So we should move forward with confidence and do our best to thrive in various circumstances, but we can't get caught up on one topic or think we know what the next disaster will be.
June 24, 2023
This book certainly made me reflect on the future we may face if we continue on our current trajectory. The author lays out his argument in a clear and well thought out manner and covers the three primary areas of concern (The three Es: Economy, Energy, and Environment) quite deeply.
The first 3/4ths of the book paints a quite bleak and very concerning scenario we are digging ourselves into. Much of the data presented is eye opening and downright frightening. So much so that I tried to verify what was claimed in the book to the source data to make sure nothing was taken out of context or cherry picked. (In full disclosure, I only spot checked some of the most concerning data points and did not do an exhaustive verification. Only enough to verify that there is some validity to what I was reading.) Unfortunately, the author's representation of the data is accurate. The logic is sound. If there is something open for debate, it would not be in the data presented, only in interpretation.
The final 1/4th addresses how we (individually) can mitigate the negative consequences of how we (as a species) are handling the three Es. There is a huge disconnect in the weight of the message between the first 3/4ths and the final fourth. As I stated above, the majority of the book scares (or should scare) the pants off of you. The final bit, in context of everything that came before it, feels quite nonchalant. The advise he gives is sound. It basically boils down to proper diversification of wealth/assets and a mental shift in how we think about wealth. On the one hand, the author does not at all sound alarmist in reaction. The advise is very level headed. Nothing I haven't heard before in wealth management circles. On the other, the looming concerns that most, by far, of the book is devoted to should call for more reactive measures. I was turned off by the fact that the author seems to have a business around offering "solutions/advise?" in this regard. If this were a serious concern, why profit from it and limit reach only to those willing to pay for it? But in full disclosure, I have not spent much time on his website nor do I plan to so I will say no more on this.
All in all, this is a book worth reading, if for anything, to have an open discussion about how we're utilizing non-renewable resources, our impact on our environment, and our overuse of debt to fund our future. To be intellectually honest, I had to separate the stated arguments from ad hominem biases. To quote Charlie Munger, "I never allow myself to hold an opinion on anything that I don't know the other side's argument better than they do".
The first 3/4ths of the book paints a quite bleak and very concerning scenario we are digging ourselves into. Much of the data presented is eye opening and downright frightening. So much so that I tried to verify what was claimed in the book to the source data to make sure nothing was taken out of context or cherry picked. (In full disclosure, I only spot checked some of the most concerning data points and did not do an exhaustive verification. Only enough to verify that there is some validity to what I was reading.) Unfortunately, the author's representation of the data is accurate. The logic is sound. If there is something open for debate, it would not be in the data presented, only in interpretation.
The final 1/4th addresses how we (individually) can mitigate the negative consequences of how we (as a species) are handling the three Es. There is a huge disconnect in the weight of the message between the first 3/4ths and the final fourth. As I stated above, the majority of the book scares (or should scare) the pants off of you. The final bit, in context of everything that came before it, feels quite nonchalant. The advise he gives is sound. It basically boils down to proper diversification of wealth/assets and a mental shift in how we think about wealth. On the one hand, the author does not at all sound alarmist in reaction. The advise is very level headed. Nothing I haven't heard before in wealth management circles. On the other, the looming concerns that most, by far, of the book is devoted to should call for more reactive measures. I was turned off by the fact that the author seems to have a business around offering "solutions/advise?" in this regard. If this were a serious concern, why profit from it and limit reach only to those willing to pay for it? But in full disclosure, I have not spent much time on his website nor do I plan to so I will say no more on this.
All in all, this is a book worth reading, if for anything, to have an open discussion about how we're utilizing non-renewable resources, our impact on our environment, and our overuse of debt to fund our future. To be intellectually honest, I had to separate the stated arguments from ad hominem biases. To quote Charlie Munger, "I never allow myself to hold an opinion on anything that I don't know the other side's argument better than they do".
August 25, 2017
Not much actionable, not much not found in the author's podcast (Peak Prosperity)
February 14, 2012
Our economy is unsustainable because it depends upon exponential growth, which by definition is impossible except within very finite time frames. The next twenty years will be unlike anything human civilization has ever seen before. Oil, coal, gas and many other non-renewable resources have been exponentially extracted from nature to fuel our economy, which has been growing exponentially for the past several decades. It cannot continue.
This is an important book. It spells out exactly how our economy works, how it is a fairly fragile and temperamental house of cards, and why things are going to change dramatically in the near future. I wish more people would read it and understand the implications of our runaway economy and our plunder of the one-time cash cow that nature has blessed our species with at this tiny fragment of time. Maybe then we would be able effect change that would prepare us for the future. But I don't see that happening.
Even though this is really a well-organized and well-researched book that I think everyone should read, it was just a little too depressing for me to give it a higher rating. Not the author's fault, not a flaw with the book, just my mood upon reading it. Time for something more uplifting.
This is an important book. It spells out exactly how our economy works, how it is a fairly fragile and temperamental house of cards, and why things are going to change dramatically in the near future. I wish more people would read it and understand the implications of our runaway economy and our plunder of the one-time cash cow that nature has blessed our species with at this tiny fragment of time. Maybe then we would be able effect change that would prepare us for the future. But I don't see that happening.
Even though this is really a well-organized and well-researched book that I think everyone should read, it was just a little too depressing for me to give it a higher rating. Not the author's fault, not a flaw with the book, just my mood upon reading it. Time for something more uplifting.
February 7, 2012
This was an interesting read only shortly after reading "The Age of Turbulence" by Alan Greenspan. And, honestly, I'm wary of a book about economics written by a Fortune 300 CEO. But, he does recognize some points I had already seen - growth is not prosperity, and we're past "peak growth" in so many ways in our economy.
June 15, 2013
Martenson basically provides a high level overview of current books on the topic. If you are looking for an easy to understand synopsis without slogging through supporting data, then this is the book for you. If you are looking for unique insight or any significant depth of analysis, then there are plenty of better choices.
March 25, 2011
Analysis of the limits we are facing in our economy, energy, and environment and how this will change the world over the next 20 years. Reads like a sequel to the infamous book "limits to growth" from the 1970s.
May 21, 2011
This is an important book. There are lot's of similar books on peak oil, the debt crisis and stuff, but this one is a good summary of most of them together. Very depressing though, but I'm afraid most of it is true.
January 13, 2022
I was going to give it 2 stars because it is pretty elementary and oversimplified complex things (not to mention wrong about predictions looking back) but the last two chapters were very good and actionable
September 11, 2021
Couldn't finish @41%. Some interesting ideas, but it's severely outdated.
I dropped it at the peak oil chapter which had graphs pre-Texas oil which change those graphs monumentally. I know Chris would probably say that this just holds off the inevitable for longer, but doesn't change the meaning of the book... But I kept having to go look up more updated data.
For now, peak oil chapter is accompanied by statements such as "These aren't theories, but facts"; however, these "facts" exclude any notion of progress or other potential energy sources, new discoveries (as came to pass with Texas, completely changing these 'facts'). It states that "Peak" passed in 2004, well... Yea no. I remember from my econ classes in college studying such predictions with similar calculations that were done over and over and over throughout history, predictions that land in 18th century England would run out and no longer produce enough food, but then progress made it possible to produce more food per square acre, predictions that NYC would drown in horse manure before the automobile came about, yet human ingenuity always created solutions. Perhaps this time is different, and I do agree with Chris 100% that living in giant houses for the sake of acquiring stuff, not having a community is indeed horrible, and I do agree with trying to live sustainably and using only what you need.
I would consider reading an updated version of the book if one comes out.
I dropped it at the peak oil chapter which had graphs pre-Texas oil which change those graphs monumentally. I know Chris would probably say that this just holds off the inevitable for longer, but doesn't change the meaning of the book... But I kept having to go look up more updated data.
For now, peak oil chapter is accompanied by statements such as "These aren't theories, but facts"; however, these "facts" exclude any notion of progress or other potential energy sources, new discoveries (as came to pass with Texas, completely changing these 'facts'). It states that "Peak" passed in 2004, well... Yea no. I remember from my econ classes in college studying such predictions with similar calculations that were done over and over and over throughout history, predictions that land in 18th century England would run out and no longer produce enough food, but then progress made it possible to produce more food per square acre, predictions that NYC would drown in horse manure before the automobile came about, yet human ingenuity always created solutions. Perhaps this time is different, and I do agree with Chris 100% that living in giant houses for the sake of acquiring stuff, not having a community is indeed horrible, and I do agree with trying to live sustainably and using only what you need.
I would consider reading an updated version of the book if one comes out.
December 30, 2022
Good book. Took me forever to start reading it because I was dreading it. Remained reluctant through the first few chapters because I thought it was going to be fear mongering but it was fine. There was a couple of passages I wasn’t too fond of like the part on imaging different future scenarios but I see why he kept it in. You definitely need some mental head space to take it in and I should reread it to cement the ideas. I just don’t think I can bare to because of my aversion to this kind of thing
June 9, 2017
A little bit extreme in his views of doom and gloom but a lot of it is based on some pretty sound logic and is well researched so couldn't completely dismiss his points. In fact, even as a moderate individual, it makes perfect sense to start implementing many of his ideas and move towards self sufficiency and self-reliance. Something that we have been talking about for a while anyway. Very interesting even in a little scary.
August 1, 2018
A very insightful look at the illusion of perpetual growth
Written almost a decade ago, Chris has been right about quite a few things that have come to pass since then. I think this book will open a lot of people's eyes as to the scarcity of resources we may face in the near future, the wrecklessness with which we are treating some of our current resources, and offer some pretty good advice on how we can start moving in a positive direction!
Written almost a decade ago, Chris has been right about quite a few things that have come to pass since then. I think this book will open a lot of people's eyes as to the scarcity of resources we may face in the near future, the wrecklessness with which we are treating some of our current resources, and offer some pretty good advice on how we can start moving in a positive direction!
January 9, 2024
I like Chris Martenson, and even though this book is pretty out-of-date (a book about the future that is actually the past) and specific predictions didn't pan out in the 20teens, I think the concepts of complex systems, nonlinear dynamics, exponential growth, and limited resources hold up well. I found his analysis of the dynamics and interaction of energy, economy, and environment very clear and compelling.
January 26, 2024
Most of this book was spent describing what the author believes will inevitably happen in the future. There was really not anything shocking to me in this portion of the book, and there was actually a lot that he missed-changes in immigration, an increase in tick-borne, mosquito-borne, and viral diseases etc. Which is all important! I found the sections on what to do about it/how to prepare lacking as well. The recommendations were vague and not necessarily easy to implement.
February 9, 2025
Brilliant, brilliant man. This book was published in 2011 and his predications have already came into fruition. I had a tough time at the beginning as it was very wordy and there were too many statistics to follow so his point got lost overtime. However, at the end he made some very interesting and true points that I would like to begin incorporating into my life. I will be reading the updated version and visiting his website.
April 8, 2021
Collision course
A great read! His book is fully of potential pitfalls we face,if we continue to do the same thing. Our resources have a expiration date if we do not chance the way we look at every aspect of life. Read,learn and do! This book provides great insight on what we can expect if we continue down the same roads.
A great read! His book is fully of potential pitfalls we face,if we continue to do the same thing. Our resources have a expiration date if we do not chance the way we look at every aspect of life. Read,learn and do! This book provides great insight on what we can expect if we continue down the same roads.
May 14, 2020
I thought it was a great read. The author does a good job of explaining things in a way easy for those to grasp, especially if you're not an economist or scientist. It's entertaining and at the same time alarming to read how it's possible our economy can come to a horrendous crash.
October 23, 2020
This book brings about the future and by focusing on the things going on currently, the future can be predicted. From energy to currency this book is educational and I better understand how the world works.
May 11, 2018
An eye-opening must-read.
December 27, 2018
Reminded me of Thanos ideology, the world resources is finite, we need to eliminate half of the world population for our civilisation to sustain. 🌚
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