| The key assumption here is (for me): > In an ever inflating economy, ... Inflating the economy has been working over the course of the last century or even longer. What many people appear to be oblivious of is that this growth has been fundamentally based upon a few factors: (a) very useful innovations in science/technology, (b) population growth and (c) almost limitless and thus cheap fossil energy in combination with ecosystems as basically humanity's landfill for all the waste streams of our ignorant and half-assed make-a-quick-buck-products. (a) may very well continue delivering efficiency/productivity gains over decades to come or forever. (b) and especially (c) are hitting ceilings right now. I think this "ever inflating economy" has only been possible without much more frequent financial collapses because there was all this extra potential for use/misuse of natural resources available. This is what kept filling in actual consumable value/goods for all the inflated $. With this extra potential becoming smaller and used up I very much doubt the current economic model can be kept running for more than another 15-20 years. And with modern monetary theory MMT economists enticing politicians and naive optimists with their "yes, there is free lunch for everyone, don't you all worry about running deficits" message, the whole economic system is set up for hitting the ecological limits with the foot still on the accelerator. |