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Trump’s Economic Era

but creditors are also depositors. As we move more and
more toward a cashless society, it will become ever
more difficult to shield your money from the clutches of
your banker in the event of a banking collapse.
Before the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in
1999, commercial banks could not participate in the
derivatives market; it was unlawful for them to put
depositors money at elevated risk. Because the repeal of
the Glass-Steagall Act blurred the lines between
commercial and investment banks, commercial banks
now participate in the derivatives market.
The catalyst that could precipitate a derivatives
collapse could be the fall in oil prices. Oil companies
are major derivative investors. If low oil prices lead to
massive losses, the derivatives market will take a big
hit. But to anticipate the future, let’s look for clues in
the past.

STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT

Structural unemployment occurs when the skills
demanded by employers do not match the talents or the
location of the unemployed. We know that change is
inevitable, and changes in technology sweep out the old
and bring in the new, eliminating some jobs and birth-
ing others. For example, DVD rental companies have
gone out of business while Netflix has prospered.
Blockbuster faced bankruptcy because the owners
considered themselves a video rental business, but their
business was not rentals, it was entertainment.

Another example is Microsoft. Microsoft
thought that Apple Computer would never succeed with

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