In this up-to-the-minute speech, Jim points out how the media distort economic news and then uses a wide array of indicators and reports to explain what is happening in the economy. After presenting his own forecast, he then reviews the consensus forecast explaining how and why it differs from his. And finally he brings it all home to each individual audience, reviewing the economic sectors and/or geographic areas that are important to his listeners.

If demography is destiny, all the leading economies of the world, including the U.S. economy are in trouble. Medicare and Social Security are about to bankrupt the U.S. while Japan and much of the European Union have even fewer workers per retiree than the U.S. Add in the fact that long-range planning is not the long suit of democracies and you can see the train wreck coming. Dr. Smith, a normally optimistic fellow, lays out the impending economic disaster.