Countdown to Crisis

“Attention America’s economy: You have 12 years to live. Our capitalist system is based on the idea of an overall return on our assets: We buy things, then reconfigure, invent, invest, and redeploy them in ways that are more positive for the world. If you like that DVR, that fast food and all the other fine things around us, you should approve. Small problem: According to a fascinating new study from Deloitte, over the last 40 years the return on assets has fallen 75%. Return on invested capital is down 79%. By 2022, says one of the authors, return on assets will hit zero.”