Empire of Debt: The Rise of an Epic Financial Crisis (Agora Series)

by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin

Book Overview

In Empire of Debt, maverick financial writers Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin provide you with the first in-depth look at how the American character has shifted to accommodate its new imperial role;... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471739022
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 1.3" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Adds up America's financial woes

In a society already encouraging people to 'buy now' and worry later, this book provides essential diagnosis and prescription for much-needed changes. Both authors discuss very pertinent financial information in a manner which makes the book interesting and readable to the 'average person' I included. America's spendthrift attitudes are driving the country into debit and making a mockery out of our international standing. How can we even think that we have the right to influence what goes on in the world stage when the USA obviously does not have it's own affairs first in order? Using their unique brand of sharp insight and witty humor, Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin argue that big government has created these problems. They clarify that we are actually living in the era of big government today. However, the authors are much less interested in politics and partisan battles than examining disciplines. Instead of having pointed fingers, they want us to concentrate on the consequences of actions to having created current conditions. Foresight is so little encouraged in most other other books examining current affairs that it is a radical suggestion.

a nation of thieves

Empire of Debt is probably the most important history book you will ever read. It puts the two great world wars, the Vietnam war, the Cold war, and the war in Iraq in a historical perspective that I've never seen anywhere else. It looks at American history through the lens of empire building and challenges the reader to admit that the corruption at all levels of American society today is the same corruption that brought down the ancient Roman empire. If you call yourself a conservative, you may find after reading this book you are nothing more than a Reaganite liberal (euphemistically called "neoconservative"), made in the image of Woodrow Wilson. And the objective evidence for this is whether or not you are living within your means. My dad used to say to me, "If you say you are going to do something, and then don't do it, the end result and effect upon others is identical to an outright lie." In a similar vein this book makes one realize that spending more than you make is as immoral as outright theft and a violation of the eighth commandment, "You shall not steal." The inescapable conclusion is that we are a nation of liars, thieves, rapists, and pillagers, doing the same things that all empires in history have done. We arrogantly think our way of life is the supreme way of life, and we are willing to kill and steal in order to impose it upon other nations. But history has repeatedly vindicated the supremacy of One who says, "The borrower is servant to the lender," (Prov 22:7). May God have mercy on us!

Friedman, listen up buttercup!

What a read. This book is far more readable and entertaining than Friedman's drippy, World is Flat. The idea that Americans are the most innovative, smart and democratic society in the world (as Friedman contends) is exactly the sophomoric and arrogant line of thinking that will lead to our downfall -- if we don't mind our P's and Q's. We simply cannot continue to sustain this country as we are right now. 71% of our GDP is being artificially propped up by consumer spending. And the average consumer has NO money left to spend! If you only read one chapter...turn to page 261 and read the section titled "Something Wicked This Way Comes." It will be the most eye-opening 11 pages you read all year.

Straight Talk From The Daily Reckoning Duo

Straight talk. That's what this follow up to Financial Reckoning Day is all about. Most people don't like to hear bad news. They can't handle life's economic truths, especially during the time of a bubble. Most would rather live in denial and be secure in their warm falsehoods, such as: real estate will only go up, stocks will only rise and inflation will remain stagnant. But authors Bonner and Wiggin shine a light on the nation's economy that is rarely seen in today's media. They expose the delusions our government is operating under and explain how it will erode your portfolio - unless immediate action is taken. Empire of Debt is best described as ironically humorous... scornful... mocking... its conclusions are based in historical reasoning which read in a clear and consistent manner. Look at this exchange from the book: "What should an investor do to protect himself," our friend asked. "Buy gold." "Gold? What a strange idea. I haven't heard anyone mention gold in many years. It seems so out-of-date. I didn't think anyone bought gold anymore." "That's why you should buy it." It's clear thinking like this that you don't find today... (unless you subscribe to their e-letter called The Daily Reckoning - it's written in the same vein.) Empire of Debt is a wry pleasure to read. I recommend this book highly.

En Vino Veritas?

I read this tag team of financial prognisticators' first book, Financial Reckoning Day, and LOVED it. Well, loved it in the way you can love a book that tells you history is all for naught and the financial world as we know it is coming to an end (at least they smiled when they said that, in a bemused kind of way). But it's my understanding these guys wrote that book and some of this one while over in France (they're also the team behind the Daily Reckoning ezine, which I also read). There must be something in the wine over there that makes you see a little more deeply into things than most are prone to here in the States. Or maybe it's the distance from their homeland (they're both American) that gives them perspective. Because I found Empire of Debt, which I just got and finished, nearly as eye-opening as the discussion they'd already started in the last book. In short, easy credit and wild spending will get us in the end. Already, it's nipping at our heels. Even while most of us, right on up to the powers that be -- who should be exercising a little more caution, but instead happen to be the worse over-spenders of them all -- refuse to pay attention to the message. But it's there in the history books. And it's in this one, which you could call a kind of history lesson as much as you could call it a forecast for things to come. Great material and well done. Definitely worth a read for anyone (smart) who cares about the future of the world economy.