It's been a busy 10 months…
Behind the scenes, we've been hard at work completely overhauling the Crash Course video series. I'm extremely happy to announce today that we're ready to start rolling it out.
Longtime PeakProsperity.com readers can remember when Chris released the original Crash Course chapters back in 2008. Only weeks after the last chapter was published, the financial crisis hit, sending the world economy reeling. For many nervous folks casting about for answers, it seemed the Crash Course had been released at exactly the time its insights were needed most.
In the years since, it has helped millions understand the nature of the challenges we face and — with that understanding — begin to take informed actions that will help them secure a more prosperous future.
But a lot has happened since 2008. The world's central banks have embarked on the largest monetary experiment in history with their coordinated easing programs. The stock and housing markets entered a "recovery" of dubious sustainability. Fukushima and the Deepwater Horizon disasters highlighted the fragility of our energy systems, while fracking technology ushered in the much-trumpeted US shale "revolution". Speaking of revolutions, democratic uprisings swept the Middle East and North Africa, changing many long-standing regimes. And today, the geopolitical sands continue to shift as uncertainty flourishes around the globe; in Iraq, Ukraine, between China and several of its trading partners, and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the pace of economic growth throughout can only generously be described as 'anemic'.
Over this time, many have asked us: Do these developments change any of the central insights of the Crash Course framework?
A number have also commented that it's been getting harder to share the Crash Course with new eyes, as without addressing the newer developments above, it's feeling more and more "dated".
So for these reasons and others, we committed to updating the material. And not just selectively — ALL of it. Which, honestly, has been a tremendous amount of work. I'd estimate that collectively, Chris, Jason (our content manager) and I have logged nearly 2,000 hours in producing this. I would not be surprised at all if Jason and I hold the record for cumulative hours logged on Google Hangout…
What's New?
So what can you expect in this new version?
- up-to-date charts and data
- higher production quality
- substantial updates to every chapter
- brand new chapters (e.g., Quantitative Easing, Shale Oil, The Environment: Increasing Waste)
The new version is now 27 chapters long, and clocks in at 4 hours 36 minutes. That's more than a full hour's worth of material than the original version had.
Our goal was to enhance the material as much as possible for the seasoned supporters of the Crash Course, while also making it more sharable and more easily accessible to brand new viewers.
And to that end, we prioritized creating an under-1-hour version — which we're calling the 'Accelerated' Crash Course (the "ACC", for shorthand). It was extremely challenging to condense all the important points of the full series into less than an hour without making it feel too dense, wonky or rushed. But after a lot of testing, listening and revising, we're pretty excited with how it has come out. If there's someone you care about that you'd like to expose to the topics we talk about here at Peak Prosperity, this video is the best introduction to send them.
The Roll-Out
'Accelerated' Crash Course
Earlier today, we released the Accelerated Crash Course to the public.
If you haven't yet, please watch it. And please share it with anyone and everyone you think will benefit from its message.
Chris and I feel a shift coming after several years of relative calm. We think developments are beginning to slip from the grasp of central planners, and that things are going to get interesting (i.e., tumultuous) again — possibly quite fast and quite soon. The more people who are exposed to this information beforehand, while advance actions can be taken, only helps all of us.
Feedback of all kinds is extremely valued. If you have input you'd prefer to give directly (vs in the Comments section below), feel free to email me here.
The Full Crash Course
Just as Chris did back in 2008, we are going to publicly release the chapters of the new Crash Course in serial order.
The plan is to release, on average, 1 new chapter per week through the rest of 2014. We want to give the world enough of a chance to watch, digest and circulate each chapter before the next comes out.
For those who simply don't want to wait that long to view the entire new series, you can indulge your binge-watching craving by enrolling to PeakProsperity.com. The entire full new series, all 27 chapters of it, is available — now– to our enrolled users.
Enrolled users can access the new series at www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse
The 'Classic' Crash Course
And the nostalgic types need not worry. The original series — now dubbed the "Classic" version — is still available for viewing anytime at www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse/classic
Translations
Here, we have less clarity at the moment. We're still in the process of reaching out to the volunteers who translated the Classic chapters (all of those will be preserved) and learning which of them has interest in tackling the new material. As we find folks willing to take on the work, we'll announce it here on the site.
Suffice it to say, though, if you or someone you know is interested in volunteering your translation services, please email us here.
Conclusion
Chris and I think this new material represents the best work we've done to date. But we had great help along the way. We'd like to thank:
- Jason Wiskerchen – who has spent nearly every day of the past 10 months on Google Hangout with me, painstakingly building every frame of the video files
- Monstro Designs – who created the design template that gives the new Crash Course its more polished look & feel
- Jenny Katz – for composing our new theme music
We're extremely excited to finally be able to share this work with the world at large, and that starts with you. As you watch these new videos, please share them with those for whom you think they can make a positive difference. As mentioned, we're feeling increasingly confident the relative tranquility of the past several years is ending. We pushed to release these videos now, with hope they will serve as timely to helping people understand and cope with world events as the original version did back in 2008.
Now, off to get a little sleep….
by bleep 
