Food costs will rise, at first due to the increased cost of petroleum based fertilizers and fuels, and later the methods that will evolve to replace current techniques will be more labor intensive and cost more. But this will have the advantage of providing more employment.
If you have retirement income, disability income, unemployment benefits or welfare these will all come under pressure unless real recovery occurs, as tax revenues will remain low while expenses increase. I really don't know. A lot of normal economic functioning is an ongoing confidence game, and that confidence has taken a hit and is likely to take more and bigger hits. Were the Fed to simply step into the gap and print money on a trillion dollar scale so social security and other obligations can be met, including ongoing foreign wars, I can see that being inflationary, but others might argue.
If economic activity continues to drop down to the minimum possible for survival for most folks, prices could continue to drop an we could go into a debt-deflation spiral. Very bad. The 30s showed that depression can be accompanied by currency devaluation, which we effectively did in the 30s, going off the gold standard and withdrawing gold coins from circulation, and again in the early 70s when the USA withdrew any gold or silver backing for its currency and let the dollar float.
In a deflationary depression, cash is king, as the price of goods declines, so your cash buys more. But with the miracles of modern economics we might find ourselves with a depreciating currency and collapsing asset prices simultaneously. Hard to know where to hide or even if you can.
The State of California is in serious fiscal distress and has already raised the fees at the UC and CSU systems significantly. That could result in fewer students for you to tutor. It is the State of California that is on the hook for retirements for the people who have Calpers, and the state had to pony up an additional few billion this year, as Calper's portfoolio declined by >30% last year this time and some of it was in oil futures that collapsed in July of '08, etc. All private pensions are in similar straits.
Just consider that you have a seat at The Resturant At The End Of The Universe and are getting to watch others disintegrate while hoping for someone to get working the time machine that will take you back well before the end arrives for you. But you know how it is with time machines. Just when you need one the most..... As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Interesting thing about tutoring. I draw upon three colleges/universities for students: Sac State, Sac City, and American River. A reasonable estimate of the student population taking a chemistry course in any semester is 2000, and I only need 10 - 15 students per semester to fill all of my time. Plus these people think they have futures in "health care" so I'm looked on as a good investment.
Thank You! In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
Just consider that you have a seat at The Resturant At The End Of The Universe and are getting to watch others disintegrate while hoping for someone to get working the time machine that will take you back well before the end arrives for you. But you know how it is with time machines. Just when you need one the most.....
I was just doing other things and this final statement of yours came to mind. And I realized that I may be here to answer the question, "If a species has the ability to harness nuclear power/weapons and avoids blowing itself up, is it in the clear? Will it develop into a responsible species? Or in this case, will it destroy itself by destroying its biosphere?" Now that would be ironic. Dodge the nuclear bullet only to succumb to greed/corruption.
And that time machine? I have one and it doesn't depend upon anything other than my body ceasing to function. Then what? Just waiting to find out. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
