First Kasman noted the intense interest in the economy lately among people of all walks of life. "This is the first time in my professional life that my children have been interested in what I do for a living," he says. People in professional and social settings have been asking him exactly what's going to happen to housing prices, oil prices and such. Kasman says he's begun telling people who ask what he does for a living that he's a science fiction writer. "This [economy] is, in many respects, unchartered territory," he says.