Contagion: The Financial Epidemic That Is Sweeping the Global Economy... and How to Protect Yourself from It

by John R. Talbott

Book Overview

Bestselling author John Talbott outlines the troublesome economic times ahead and what can be done about them

Tough times are here, and author John Talbott-who accurately predicted the dot.com technology stock collapse as well as the recent housing, mortgage, and financial crises-argues that the coming global recession will be unlike anything we've ever seen.

In Contagion, Talbott turns his attention to this crisis and offers...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470442212
• ISBN13: 9780470442210
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Education was priceless, regardless of the prediction outcome

I am not quite finished reading Contagion. I've learned so much from this book. Everything makes sense, and the author thoroughly supports his predictions. I've never been political or financial, but the book is written in a way that all readers can understand it. I can't wait to share the book with friends and family. I never realized the level of corruption that we face today. I highly recommend this book!

Another arrow splitting bull's eye for John Talbott.

I have read all of John's books more than once and continue to be amazed at the accuracy with which he can discern the economic consequences from a history of social behaviors. I experienced my first, so called, real estate bubble during the sixties and was buying duplexes in the San Francisco Bay area for $13,000 each in its aftermath. I have also studied every bubble since, and agree that the magnitude of the forces driving the current Financial melt down has created the mother of all perfect storms which will likely lead to world altering consequences. He, rightly, does not blame capitalism for the current financial problems, but has much to say about corrupt politicians, lobbysts and greedy corporate leaders who line their pockets at the expense of stock holders and working citizens while creating losses and a costly clean up for them. He very astutely points out that this recession is different from all the others, noting that the residential real estate market is leading this one down for the first time in our history. He notes that recessions usually begin with a business decline followed by high unemployment and then falling housing prices. He suggests that the consequences of the unprecedented activities that produced this housing led crisis will be severe and wide spread, with global affects. I was pleased to learn that he believes capitalism, operating in a well regulated republic is the strongest economic model in existence. He offers that capitalism works so well that it has the ability, unless properly regulated, to over-heat and meltdown from time to time. He makes a strong case for eliminating lobbyist, who corrupt and interfere with regulations, from government altogether. I hope, as he, that we survive this experience and will make changes to prevent it from happening in the future. Hopefully, our grand children will look back on this as the world's last great finnancial crash, meanwhile everyone interested in surviving it today would do well to read Contagion. John writes, street wise, with Hemmingway-like simplicity and clarity with good documentation. I have suggested it as a must read for my business associates. Now, I hope he can be coaxed into writing an in-depth, sequel about the on-going selling of the favors of our beloved America the beautiful. We need to rescue her from these self-serving lobbyst and corrupt politicians who are behaving like pimps rather than responsible public representitives as they prostitute her for their own personal gains. Since arriving on these shores in 1630 many of my ancestor have served her in just about every capacity, often fighting and dying for her honour. Now others, after swearing to protect and serve her have insulted and violated her in the most vile manner. It is past time to put a stop to this corrupt humiliation, wipe the tears of disgrace from her eyes and reinstate her to the place of high honor that she rightly deserves. Congratulations on anoth

Contagion - What caused it - What we can do

A must read for any one that is involved in the current economic downturn - and that means practically everyone. John Talbott lays out a very concise and coherent history about how we got here and what are some of our options going forward. The book is an easy read - you don't need an MBA or PhD in Economics to get through it. To not read it, is to not have an understanding of economic forces that are engulfing us. I'm convinced that when the definitive economic history of this era is written John Talbott will be seen as a sort of prophet (as opposed to profit) for our time.

What Went Wrong and How to Make It Right

This book goes beyond the simple "Sub-Prime Mortgage," expose' to explain the root causes of the recent financial meltdown in an interesting and understandable way. While sub-prime lending may have been the first shoe to drop, the fundamental problem was one of greed and complicity among all of the bad actors from appraisers and mortgage brokers to investment bankers and members of Congress who took their money and turned a blind eye to what was about to happen. Sadly, the means of protecting yourself from this catastrophe are limited since the vast majority of "investments," are still heading down, but the author does point out that cash, TIPS and gold might hold value in the long run, along with judicious investments in China. In the final analysis, we need to cut our national leaders off their lobbyist habits and allow the marketplace and bankruptcy courts to clean up the garbage that has been created. I found this book to be extremely engaging and enlightening. While I usually read 4 or 5 books at the same time, I couldn't put this one down and finished it in just a day or so. Although the elements of this financial disaster change on a daily basis, the general course of the author's predictions remains true and his observations continue to have merit, even though Treasury's TARP program as described by the author has morphed into a no strings attached Wall Street Giveaway.

I hope he is wrong just this one time!

In 2003, I read my first John Talbott's book, The Coming Crash in the Housing Market. He was simply ahead of his time with his prediction of the housing market, Fannie Mae, Freddic Mac, etc. In 2006, I read Sell Now, and this was right before THE PEAK, and this time he was simply spot on. Of course, he wrote Obamanomics, when everybody thought Hillary was going to win. This is how good this author is. Naturally, I devourved his latest book, Contagion. This book has no charts, no tables, but the message is clear: this time the recession is gonna be deep and long, and no countries can escape it, and there are only a few things you can do: cash, TIPS, gold, and if you must, only one other country to invest in. He has another message, that our country has been hijacked, and this mess is not an accident, and we need reforms. Regarding his prediction about this recession, I just hope that he is wrong just this one time. But given the case he laid out, I think that's just wishful thinking.