Truth Bomb Tuesday: There are things you should be worried about right now. The collapse of the global economy is not one of them.
I’m still pretty relaxed. And I want you to be as well.
And look, I know it’s an easy thing for me to say. Property investing has given me all-seasons cash-flow, and it’s given me wealth and I can fall back on.
The single-mother I used to be, stressed-out and exhausted, will always be grateful for the day I discovered property investing.
With my own business on the ropes, crying kids to feed and bills to pay, there’s no way you could have added ‘manage the fall out of a global pandemic’ to my to-do list. It would have been too much.
I know there are people in that boat right now. My advice to them is don’t go it alone. This is not normal. You’re not supposed to be able to ‘just deal’ with it.
Reach out for help if you need to. Please. Do it for me.
And for the rest of us… well, I know from the conversations I’m having that anxiety is high. We’re looking at a total economic reset. Millions of people are being laid off or stood down.
Some economists are talking about 15% employment and the first depression in a hundred years.
Some people are talking about the end of capitalism, and that the I-phone XI is just going to be a rock with some pretty engravings on it.
(It will still be over-priced).
But me, I’m relaxed.
And look, that’s not to say there’s not going to be some pain in the short run. There will. Things will be tough for a while.
But I’m relaxed about the future of the Australian economy. I’m relaxed about the future of the global economy.
Because I know a secret.
It’s not real.
I’ve been an economist for a long time now. I’ve studied the theory, and then, unlike most of those arm-chair heroes, I saw how it worked in practice.
And I looked long and deep into the heart of the economy. I wanted to understand it.
And eventually I saw it.
Nothing.
There’s nothing there.
The economy is not real.
We disconnected from the gold-standard in the 70s. Most of us work jobs that are not necessary to support human life and the search for meaning.
The economy is not a ‘thing’ – it is more like a culture.
The foundation of the global economy is the fact that humans like it. It’s better to live in a functioning economy than not.
It’s like a giant game of pass-the-parcel. The farmer is happy to pass the parcel on to the baker. The baker on to the Client-Success-Manager at the bank. The Client-Success-Manager to the Instagram Model.
And round and round it goes.
It doesn’t matter that the parcel is empty. We like the game. It’s better than not playing.
But don’t mistake that for a weakness. Human commitment and will is the most powerful force in the known universe. It can move mountains.
And so I don’t worry about the economy being ‘destroyed’. There is nothing to destroy.
There is just us, and whatever we will into existence.
And so yes, the game has been thrown into a wobble. There will be short term pain.
But sooner or later, we’ll all find our places again, and carry on.
So look. Be relaxed.
There are things to worry about. The health of your loved ones, your plan to get through the next few months.
But the collapse of the global economy is just not something you need to be giving a thought to right now.
DB.