It’s completely understandable if the current banking crisis has you perplexed: these are incredibly perplexing times.
The big picture: People and businesses could make long-term plans for the 70 years from 1946 to 2015. Then came 2016 (Brexit and Trump), 2020 (COVID-19), and 2022 (Russian invasion of Ukraine) in quick succession.
The global economy’s very foundations were destroyed by the pandemic, including our supply chains, sense of time, and capacity for scientific consensus.
Why it’s important My new book, “The Phoenix Economy,” is an examination of “life, work, and money in the New Not Normal” — how we should get used to unexpected things that don’t make a lot of sense.
What’s next: We know now to expect the unexpected. There will be more pandemics — the chances we’ll go another 100 years before the next one are almost nil.
The long arc of history will become jagged and unpredictable. Both domestic and international politics are running hot by postwar standards and will remain that way, the flames of conflict fueled by inexorable global climate change.
Will AI kill us all? Probably not — but it’s easy to see why, in the New Not Normal, people are worried about that. This is a world of black swans.
The bottom line: The biggest lesson the pandemic taught us was YOLO — you only live once. Live your best life today, for no one knows what tomorrow might bring.
