Chuck Klosterman: belief

Transcript context

…Some guy in an apartment in New York City cracking sarcastic jokes — like, whoop-de-do. The ’90s — there was not the sense that culture was unraveling, which I think is a common feeling now. That crisis is not unmanageable. I have a financial adviser, and he always wants me to take more risks. But I always have this fear that at some point, the way the economy of the United States works — it could just collapse. He always tells me, “Well, if that’s your concern, it’s a concern for everybody. You can’t build that into your portfolio, the idea of what happens if there’s a catastrophic end to capitalism.” As an economist, what is the likelihood of — the way our economy is built — just completely hemorrhaging and falling apart? Would you say there’s a 2 percent chance of that? A 20 percent chance of that? Is it always 50–50? I don’t think economists are especially able to judge that. I am mostly optimistic, and the biggest risks I worry about are at the level of international peace: China, Taiwan, Russia, Ukraine, right? Big problems that I’m sure I don’t understand, but I’m not sure they’re going to work out well. I used to think the countercyclical asset was to have a second residence or savings in some other country. But increasingly, I’m wondering if the countercyclical asset isn’t the United States, and you’re already, in a sense, overinvested in it. Maybe it’s parts of Florida are the countercyclical asset. Wouldn’t that be weird? How about North Dakota, even? Not impossible, right?…

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