 |
Climategate served a useful purpose far beyond merely exposing the massive fraud and manipulation of the general public by governments, bureaucracies, the media, agencies, 'scientists' and other in the matter of global warming. It opened the public's eyed to manipulation in general. Manipulation of a population, primarily by government. In Crash Proof Peter Schiff clearly outlines the massaging and manipulation being undertaken by government to lull the public into believing that all is well. Manipulated CPI data. Manipulated economic indexes. Manipulated media. The government has mastered spin so well they'd do really well in the washing machine business. Schiff's book tells about the roots of money, its original purpose, and how badly we've drifted way from that original purpose. You're a goat farmer that needs carrots. Before money you would carry the goat to market and trade it for carrots. But what if the carrot farmer didn't need a goat? Oh. The watermellon guy wants one. So you trade the goat for watermellon, then take the watermellon over the the carrot man and hope he's in the market for watermellon. So notes are invented and used to trade for things instead of the actual things. This note says I own 1 goat, sack of carrots, etc. The notes represent real, tangible things. But that was then and this is now. The notes are no longer attached to anything tangible. Their value is perception, and according to Schiff, who is usually right in his predictions, perception that the US dollar has value is about to collapse. The foreign debt owed by the US is massive - $12 trillion and counting. Far beyond what it is feasible to repay. Default is near. The government, stupid as ever, does exactly the opposite of what it should have done in the first crisis, ensuring that the second crisis will be far, far worse. The policies being implemented are worsening the problem rather than solving it. Crash Proof is a bit of a scary read, and in a way one hopes Peter Schiff's predictions will be wrong. But he has a history of being right. And the book does give some excellent pointers on how to survive the coming crash. Debt, of course, is the key. It is the key in personal life as well as public. Individuals and governments who have no debt can sail through rough times relatively unscathed. As Schiff points out, personal and public debt are both at historic highs and debt is an anchor around the neck. If the boat sinks, survival in the water becomes very difficult.Read full review
there's 80 added pages at the end, but i cant believe the rest of this was written not only before the housing bubble burst, but while it was growing. i looked him up on youtube after reading this. it's funny to watch people call him stupid for saying there was a housing bubble. i'm reading his other book next, where he's now warning of a derivatives bubble started by QE & the bond purchases(i think; i just started it and that's where it seems like he's going so far).
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Peter Schiff is one of a handful of economic talking heads that tell it like it is. The appeal of Peter, and of this book, is that he doesn't hide behind a lot of counter-intuitive pseudo-science and double talk. The basic problems Peter lays out make sense based on the basics of "Econ 101", but they also pass the "stupid" test: You can't print money and inflate the money supply; you can't have a country that produces very little and consumes a lot; you can't have a Gov't that is so bloated that it's a huge part of the total economy but produces nothing; etc. Peter also talks about the subtle ways that the public is having the wool pulled over their eyes. If you already pay attention to Peter, there isn't a lot new in here. However, if you aren't familiar with him and Austrian economics (which is more or less classic economics rather than Keynesian) then this book is a great eye-opener. If you read the original, no real need to get this one. Not that much new info (and what there is, is added as "updates" to the text which remains unchanged from the original).Read full review
This is an excellent book to read with advise on how to weather the next financial storm.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Bottom line this book has content what will be used in the future to analyze the current economy!!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
