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I was very disappointed when I read it, though. I was looking for some good information to help me assess some of the looming financial issues facing the country like paying for retirement benefits. When I flipped through the book at the store, I saw words in each chapter dealing with the issues I wanted to explore so I bought it. I had to force myself to read through the whole book just beacause I hate to be a quitter, but I got little out of it. It seems to talk around and about the issues without giving specifics on what data show the problem getting worse or better and what specifically an investor should think about doing in response.
The author analyzes how our country found itself in the financial predicament it is in. Banks are aware that we feel safe and won't run on the bank when they lose our money because the government will cover the losses. He talks about how the FDIC insures our deposits at the banks. And if these investments turn sour, they don't care because the government will bail out the depositors. I got really excited about one topic that really made so many things clear for me. One of the threats that the author describes is government guarantees. I became interested in this book because the title sparked my curiosity. They make ridiculously risky investments with our deposits.
This book was extremely educational. So what do banks do. It may be a bit too negative at some places, but it was good.- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market. But is it really good for us. He, of course, gives some valuable investment advice on how to prosper in the future. Now I understand why these banks are in so much trouble.
We might think that this is excellent because our money is safe. I learned that because our money is insured, we don't really shop around to find the safest banks. But because of their ignorance, we, as citizens of this nation, will probably pay higher taxes in the future because of their dumb mistakes. Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
If only half of of Mr Panzners projections come true we are in for a bad time. Written in 2006, he was prescient in seeing the destructive forces at work in our economy. Worth reading.
Right on target for what we have seen in the economy. Written a couple years before it happened. Gives a great deal of credibility to what he predicts for the future. Informative of the way financial markets work.
Was I in denial about how bad things really were. This book is scary. I just thought it was one author's exaggerated take on what could happen. That gave me chills. I thought he was an excellent writer, but a little on the subjective and sensational side to be totally credible. Plus, I didn't want to believe it.
Could he have been right after all. I read it in summer 2008 and threw it in the trash because I thought it was too negative and too much hype, propaganda, and scare tactics. I remember the book suggesting to invest in food if prices start coming down, because they will whipsaw back up to crazy levels, and then.the "unraveling" of our society. Then came the Freddie & Fanny take overs, Lehman Bros bankruptcy, 60 Minutes report on Credit Default Swaps, and the stock market meltdown in October 2008. When that happened, I thought back to the book and how it predicted a market crash, followed by hyper deflation followed by hyper inflation. At the time, I could not tell if the author really believed all of the stuff he was predicting or if he was just hyping his scenerio because he is a sensational journalist.
Now, looking back, I do find his deflation-inflation theory compelling.
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