Three Scenarios: Recovery, Mediocrity, and Instability
| Scenario | Characteristics | Sources |
| Recovery | prosperity consumer spending rising real estate prices rising energy costs rising water costs rising food costs |
Larry Kudlow – CNBC |
| Mediocrity | stagflation low growth deflation high debt levels pension shortfalls medical budget deficits trade deficits high unemployment inflation wealth destruction credit squeeze |
Jim Jubak – MSN Money John Mauldin – Thoughts from the Frontline John Michael Greer – The Long Descent Tobin Smith – ChangeWave Investing |
| Instability | increased crime civil unrest global guerillas (pirates – terrorists) hyperinflation currency devaluation food shortages water shortages public services cancelled gasoline shortages electricity outages Social Security bankruptcy bank closings fiat currency joblessness |
Chris Martenson – ChrisMartenson.com James Kunstler – The Long Emergency Michael Panzner – Financial Armageddon John Robb – Brave New War Peter Schiff – Crash Proof Gerald Celente – The Trends Research Institute Nassim Taleb – The Black Swan Bill Bonner – Empire of Debt Nouriel Roubini – RGE Monitor Jim Rawles – SurvivalBlog.com Martin Weiss – The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide Richard Heinberg – Peak Everything Ron Paul – Congressman Dmitry Orlov – Reinventing Collapse Sharon Astyk – Depletion and Abundance Thomas Friedman – Hot, Flat, and Crowded |