Re: Economic meltdowns in SF

In article <13tujt98764rja8@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Steven L. <sdlitvin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>James Nicoll wrote:
>
>> 	J. Neil Schulman's ALONGSIDE NIGHT had a economic collapse due
>> to government mismanagement of the economy. 
>
>That was also the theme of "Atlas Shrugged" and "Anthem," though Ayn 
>Rand's followers didn't want to consider themselves science fiction 
>devotees.

Not so sure about _Anthem_; the economy there had collapsed as part
of the back-story but the book itself doesn't really deal with
economics.

Charles Stross' short story "Bear Trap" features a market crash (and
reinflation at the end), and his novel _Singularity Sky_ is about
a singularity-induced economic meltdown.  Economics also plays a
key role in his "Merchant Princes" series.

One could view Nancy Kress' _Beggars in Spain_ and sequels as, among
other things, an extended meditation on the meltdown of the economy
and its replacement with something... new.

And I can't help but feel that Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle"
should be mentioned here as well.  It doesn't deal with economic
meltdown per se, but it does talk a lot about the establishment
of the banking system that we see melting down around us today.

-- 
Kyle Haight