The Three Trends That’ll Define the Extinction Economy, aka Our Present and Future

Why Is It So Painful Out There? Welcome to the Extinction Economy

Image Credit: IMF

See that chart above? That’s the big picture. It’s economic growth over time. See it slowing? And that was before Covid hit. See it trending down to…zero? Which is about where our forecasts for growth this decade…are…now? Gulp. We need to talk.

I stepped off the plane and practically felt the pain. We’d arrived back in the States, away since the autumn. And after dropping things off at the house, we headed to the small town cafe where I do some…economics. I call it the Small Town America Cheeseburger Index, and it’s the best gauge of economic pain I know. When I was growing? Now, it’s a good burger. Seven or eight bucks. Then, over the years, it rose to ten. Fair enough. By this bout of inflation? $15. And now? It’s almost $20.

That’s a lot of money for a cheeseburger. Add a shake and fries, and you’re looking at north of $30. For a random lunch?

Welcome to the Painconomy. This? This is just the shock front. Of the Extinction Economy. I’m going to explain, it’s not going to be pretty, but at least you’re going to know the truth, in a far more sophisticated way than you’ll hear Jim Cramer tell you about, God Bless his manic soul, and that way, maybe you can prepare.

Nobody can afford these prices, except billionaires, and there’s a very simple way that I know that, and you should too. Feeling the pain? Financially? Worse, feeling guilty and ashamed about it? Don’t. We don’t talk about it nearly enough, but you’re not the only one. Everyone is, even if there’s a code of silence, of keep-mum-and-carry-on, about times as grim as these economically. Everybody’s feeling it. Want to know how I know?

The economy’s only real growth industry at this point — sadLOL — is “buy now, pay later.” It’s such a growth industry in fact that the economy’s best performing and wisest company, perhaps, Apple (don’t flame me, this isn’t an Apple fanboy post, just an observation) is getting into the business. Why? Because nobody can make ends meet anymore, and so a growing number of people are using “buy now, pay later” for…basics…essentials…groceries…gas…utilities. That is not good. It tells us that a shockwave is racing through the economy.

People are getting poorer, fast. That’s not my opinion. It’s not even an inference, like I’ve made it sound above. It’s a fact, an empirical statistical observation. Real incomes are falling, and they’re falling fast. We’re experiencing one of the greatest shocks in modern economic history, and it’s going to be the greatest, and I’m about to explain.

So, corporations are adjusting — or trying to. One way is buy now, pay later. I’ll come back to that. Another way is the Feeconomy. You know what else is shocking about arriving back in America? The…LOL…dirty, rotten, scam-arsed…”fees.” Later that night, we tried ordering, I don’t know, a pizza…Chinese food…doesn’t matter. The “fees” more than doubled the price of the actual food. Fair? Or scam? We’ll come back to that, too.