"The economic chaos and turbulence we are now experiencing are merely the opening salvos in what will prove to be a long, disruptive period of adjustment for our world, our way of life, and our dreams and desires. Our choices now are to either evolve a new economic model that is compatible with limited physical resources, or to risk a catastrophic failure of our money, energy, and environment, and with it the basis for civilization as we know it today. The Crash Course explains why the disparate fields of economics, energy and the environment will be dramatically different in the next 20 years--in life-changing ways--from the way we have understood them in the previous 20 years. The first half of the book will build a sense of urgency regarding our present situation by revealing that our current trajectory is unsustainable. The second half will inspire and frame out what readers can do to meet these challenges using the author's extensive experience as a source of guidance and hope. People are waking up to the true condition of the economy and world in larger and larger numbers. However, as yet there remains a startling lack of positive, non fear-based materials that can speak to a wide audience and transform the intense emotions stirred by this content into meaningful action. This book will provide a lucid, factual forewarning of things to come, helping readers create positive plans of action in their lives in advance of the future's challenges. Given the rapidly shifting state of the economy, this perspective has a great deal of topical and timely relevance. Through a clear, concise and illuminating explanation of demographics, debt, and the concepts of peak oil and net energy, Dr. Martenson will paint a startling portrait of the defining predicaments of our age and attest to why it is better to be a year early than a day late in recognizing, accepting and addressing the challenges we face. "-- Read Less