Does this happen to you lately?   I watch the news, I listen to the pundits, I read the papers and the magazines, and I still find myself sitting there with a big cartoon question mark hanging over my head wondering …”what the hell just happened to our economy!”

And then I ran into  Juan Enriquez.  Juan is one of those rare minds with the talent for bridging disciplines to build a coherent picture.  He’s the founding director of the Harvard Business School Life Sciences Project, has published widely on topics from the technical (global nucleotide data flow) to the sociological (gene research and national competitiveness), and was a member of Celera Genomics founder Craig Venter’s marine-based team to collect genetic data from the world’s oceans.

Formerly CEO of Mexico City’s Urban Development Corporation and chief of staff for Mexico’s secretary of state, Enriquez played a role in reforming Mexico’s domestic policy and helped negotiate a cease-fire with Zapatista rebels. He is chair and CEO of Biotechonomy, a research and investment firm helping to fund new genomics firms. The Untied States of America, his latest book, looks at the forces threatening America’s future as a unified country.

Fair warning.  If you’re having a good day, don’t watch this video of Juan’s presentation. It’s pure buzzkill.   But do yourself a favor and watch it anyway.  This isn’t a quick youtube ditty. Be prepared to sit still and listen for 30 minutes as Juan peels back the layers and reveals the insane world we’ve been living in this past decade.

Juan does have some practical advice for the new administration and for all of us. We can indeed crawl our way out of the economic hole we’ve dug for ourselves. Provided we throw away the shovel and change our ways. Good luck to all of us!

Tags: economcs, economic crisis, financial bubble, leadership, policy, politics