Table of Contents
AVERY
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
New York
To Jason.
To Lara.
And to everyone
who is facing down the horde.
Heroes non nascuntur, in angustum locum deprehendentur.
Heroes arent born, theyre cornered.
T. ABRAM COX
Zombie Economics
Noun
1. The theory that every skill needed to survive a financial downturn mirrors a skill needed to survive the zombie apocalypse.
2. A stripped-down, no-nonsense approach to financial survival.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
This book is not Secrets to Getting Rich Buying Real Estate, or Seven Steps to Winning Big in the Stock Market, or Commemorative Coins: Your Gateway to Financial Freedom. Readers desiring such solutions are advised to return this book to its place on the shelf, and perhaps purchase some lottery tickets instead.
PROLOGUE
NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE YOU
AN INTRODUCTION TO ZOMBIE ECONOMICS
Its out there.
On the other side of every door and window, theres a mass of biting, squirming death waiting to pour itself into the house. Day after day, night after night, the clawing and scraping and sickly wet gumming of undead mouths fills the air.
The house is ringed by zombies, and the swarm keeps growing, like flies on wet garbagetoo many to fight, too thick to flee.
The moaning is the worst part. It never stops; it just gets louder and louder and attracts more and more zombies.
Little by little, the people inside the house are going insane. From fear, from worry, from the realization that there is no escape.
No one in the house can sleep without screaming, so now, no one sleeps at all.
Instead, they start to count things: the number of potato chip crumbs left inside a bag; the number of water bottles that havent been drained, cut open, and licked dry; the number of people in a house that seems smaller and more defenseless by the moment.
And the moaning outside keeps getting louder, and the sirensfrom somewhereare blaring, more out of habit than anything else. Its been a long time since there was good newsor any news, for that matter. Its hard to tell if the TV is on some kind of loop, or if theres just nothing to report.
Televisions stillwork, at leastsomeone, somewhere decided that gods be damned, there would be entertainment until the very end. As humanity smokes and burns and finds itself taken little by little into the mouths of the undead, there will be six thousand channels of nerve-racking nothingnessalways the same: Citizens are advised to monitor this station for updates, and the president has given his assurance that every conceivable measure has been taken to remedy this situation.
Which is the same as yesterdays news. And the day before that, stretching back as far as anyone can recall.
Eventuallytomorrow, perhaps, or next week, or maybe later tonightthe front door, held back by scraps of lumber and whatever nails could be found in the basement, begins to give way. Voices scream for someone to get more nails! Get more nails! But thereareno more nails. And even if there were, theres no one left to pound them; every shoulder is pressed against the door, holding back a rising tide of the undead, watching as claws come around the edgesfilthy, blood-caked hands grasping and scratching. It takes every ounce of strength to keep the door propped up for a few long minutes, and then, there is a flooding sound, like a million noxious sighs all released at once.
And the house is filled.
Gunshots, screams, and gurgled, gnashing gibberish pierce the din... then vanish. And what remains are moans, and the sounds of dirty, shuffling feet.
Another home, another family, another future... lost.
This will not happen to you.
You will not allow it.
You will survive.
What Is a Zombie Economy?
A Zombie Economy is any financial situation that puts your stability and future in jeopardy. This doesnt necessarily mean a national recession or a collapse of world banking markets (though such things can certainly have consequences for billions of people). A Zombie Economy can be triggered by something as basic as job loss, or by an increase in living costs. It can come from a massive amount of credit card debt or other outstanding loans... or it can simply be a series of terrible, unrelated events that combine to destroy your peace of mind. All of these are personal recessions and depressions. They are your reality, regardless of how well (or how poorly) things seem to be going in the outside world.
A Zombie Economy can have serious (and sometimes long-term) effects: repossession of your car or other belongings, eviction (or the loss of your home), the inability to pay for college, severely damaged credit, and bankruptcy... just to list a few. The repercussions can last for years, even decades.
A Zombie Economy is infectious, contaminating and threatening everything it touches. And, like any infection, it can reach a critical mass, accelerating beyond control. What begins in a single homeor industry, or countrycan spread, forming a chain of sickness that endangers thousands... or millions.
No one is immune.
A college graduate, saddled with student loans and looking for work, encounters a hiring freeze in her industry; behind on rent and car payments, she finds herself looking for any job available, no matter what it pays.
Married less than a year, a young couple find themselves increasingly arguing about money. As their credit card debt passes $10,000, each accuses the other of overspending, and they begin to consider bankruptcy.
When a traffic accident totals his car and leaves both arms fractured, a freelance carpenter must face three months of unpaid recuperationalong with staggering medical bills and loss of transportation.
In a Zombie Economy, there is a self-perpetuating sense of doomthe feeling that there is no solution; that the sickness is unstoppable and the predator unkillable; the fear that even those in command have little idea how to fix things.
Whatever the size of the outbreak, you must protect your personal economy. You must confront signs of possible danger before they can do you harm. Do not wait for the infection to announce itself in horrifying, catastrophic ways. Learn to defend yourself in advancelearn to protect your money and your future from the Zombie Economy.
This is not the time to put your faith in others. This is your survival at stake, and you must make it happen.
No one is coming to save you.
You must save yourself.
IN THE FOLLOWING pages, you will make decisions. You will decide whoand whatto leave behind to ensure your own survival. These decisions will be financial, but may carry emotional consequences. You must think past these challenges and see the larger picture. Think of your own well-being and that of your loved ones and stand by the choices you make, whatever stress or discomfort they may cause. Any such pain is short-term; the end result of doing nothing, however, is ruinperhaps permanent ruin. A Zombie Economy is dangerous, and, just like the flesh-and-blood variety, it doesnt care who it destroys.
