The Demise of the Dollar... E-Book

Addison Wiggin

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Agora Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 332

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Just when you thought the dollar couldn't sink any further, it continues on a downward spiral. And now, with this fully revised and updated edition of The Demise of the Dollar, Addison Wiggin returns to reveal the many ways you can capitalize on this opportunity. Picking up where the bestselling original edition left off, this engaging book examines the many reasons behind the dollar's ongoing decline and provides you with the information needed to financially survive and thrive during the years ahead.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Introduction

THE DECLINE OF THE DOLLAR BEGINS

THE GREAT DOLLAR STANDARD ERA

THE FREE FALL ACCELERATES

THE TWILIGHT OF THE GREAT DOLLAR STANDARD ERA

A SOLUTION TO YANKEE OPTIMISM

CHAPTER 1 - THE “RECOVERY” THAT WASN’T

THE GREAT GDP HOAX

TIGHTENING THE BELT

CHAPTER 2 - FICTITIOUS CAPITALISM AND THE IPOD ECONOMY

PROFIT RENAISSANCE—OR PROFITABILITY HOAX?

CHAPTER 3 - PATHOLOGICAL CONSUMPTION

A PENNY BORROWED IS A PENNY EARNED

THE AMERICAN MONEY CULTURE

SERIAL BUBBLE BLOWERS

FROM KNOW-HOW TO NOWHERE

CHAPTER 4 - SHORT UNHAPPY EPISODES IN MONETARY HISTORY

THE DISMAL HISTORY OF PHONY MONEY

SMOKE AND MIRRORS: THE TRAGIC FACTS ABOUT FIAT MONEY

THE NEW ROMAN EMPIRE

FIAT MONEY SYSTEMS OF THE PAST

BRETTON WOODS

THE GREAT DOLLAR STANDARD ERA

A MODERN DILEMMA

THE POLITICS OF THE ECONOMY

CHAPTER 5 - THE HELICOPTER THEORY, INFLATION, AND THE MONEY IN YOUR WALLET

JAPAN: A CASE IN PERSPECTIVE

DOOMSDAY? THE PROSPECT OF A MONETARY CRASH

DENIAL AS A WAY OF LIFE

PROFITS LOST

BORROWING WITH WILD ABANDON

CHAPTER 6 - ATTENTION TO DEFICITS DISORDER

THE REAL DEFICIT SPENDING PROBLEM

THE COST OF OUR “NATIONAL BLESSING”

A HISTORY OF DEFICIT SPENDING

A PERVERSE INCENTIVE

DEBT ON STEROIDS

THE YING AND THE YANG (BUT NOT THE YEN AND THE YUAN)

A DOLLAR APOCALYPSE?

CHAPTER 7 - ALAS, THE DEMISE OF THE DOLLAR

THE FALLING DOLLAR AND ITS EFFECT ON THE MORTGAGE BUBBLE

THE FALLING DOLLAR AND THE TRADE DEFICIT

THE FALLING DOLLAR AND GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT

THE IMPACT OF A DECLINING DOLLAR

THE THREAT OF INFLATION

INFLATION BY ANY OTHER NAME

THE FED’S PREDICTABLE COURSE

CHAPTER 8 - CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE TWILIGHT OF THE GREAT DOLLAR STANDARD ERA

LOSS OF CONTROL OVER THE VALUE OF MONEY

JOBS SENT OVERSEAS

HIDDEN INFLATION IGNORES THE REALITY

THE SMART MONEY STRATEGY

HOW TO SELL THE DOLLAR

NOTES

INDEX

Copyright © 2005, 2008 by Addison Wiggin. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

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ISBN 978-0-470-28724-8

FOREWORD

It had been two years since I first read The Demise of the Dollar when Addison approached me to write a forward for the revised version. A circling back to refresh my memory was in order.

Since the original release of The Demise of the Dollar, 2005, the dollar has continued its long ride down the slippery slope. Demise of the Dollar clearly demonstrated the reasons for this dollar to remain weak, and this revised version brings you up to date.

The mantra of the current administration rings empty when they talk about “a strong dollar being in the best interests of the U.S.” The dollar has lost another third of its value against the euro since the administration first uttered those words. And recently Fed chairman Bernanke suggested that the dollar’s weakness was not a concern to the Fed.

So, whose concern is it? U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tells us that he believes in the strong dollar policy, while at the same time reprimanding China for allowing a weak currency. How can Paulson say he believes in a strong dollar when he wants the Chinese renminbi to appreciate against the dollar? When cornered, Paulson has been heard to say that currency values should be set in a competitive marketplace based on underlying economic fundamentals. So, a look at economic fundamentals is what we need to do, and in the The Demise of the Dollar, you will find plenty of fodder to bring you to the conclusion that the demise of the dollar is more of a reality in 2007 than ever before!

Today, the U.S. current account deficit requires $3 billion a day in foreign financing. How long can we continue to count on the kindness of strangers? In 2005, our trade deficit was $600 billion and growing. Today, we run a trade deficit of $710 billion per year, and it’s still growing.

U.S. consumers continue to spend money they don’t really have, or should be saving. The net savings rate in the United States has turned negative, and wages in the United States have continually fallen for years. The fundamentals for a recovery of the dollar do not look like those associated with a strong currency.

And money supply? Well, the government no longer prints M3. As a guide, we no longer know how many dollars “Helicopter Ben Bernanke” now prints on his printing press. But one thing we know for sure is that money supply is abundant, and therefore inflation remains unchecked in the United States. Now we’ve entered a new rate cutting cycle, as the Fed turns its back on inflation.

The credit-based economy and liberal monetary policies of the Fed allowed inflation to remain low for years, but slowly, and predictably, inflation pressures increased, and today inflation, like money supply, is abundant in our economy.

So, here we sit with the biggest fiat currency of all time, teetering on the brink of disaster, and only a few will tell you the truth about the dollar.

In The Demise of the Dollar, you will find economic theory that tells you why all of these awful things are happening to our economy and dollar. It will be one of the most well-written economics books you’ve ever read. Economic books can border on dry and boring, but this one is educational, informative, and very accessible to the average Joe who needs protection from our misguided Fed and governmental policies and misinformation campaigns.

Once again Addison Wiggin has knocked the cover off the ball with his The Demise of the Dollar!

—Chuck Butler

INTRODUCTION

FALL OF THE GREAT DOLLAR STANDARD

According to the press, the world’s prettiest face, Gisele Bündchen, wants to be paid in euros for U.S. modeling gigs, and in his new video, the rapper Jay-Z triumphantly holds euros—not dollars—in his upraised fist. The day after Thanksgiving 2007, anxious retailers started opening their doors before dawn to draw shoppers. Overseas visitors, meanwhile, are packing the streets of New York City, scooping up bargains. “I just saved $2,000 on this Rolex,” said one shopper from Great Britain, waving her new watch at a reporter’s camera. And no one’s laughing now at the Canadian loonie, which reached parity with the U.S. dollar in September 2007—for the first time since 1976.

Pretty faces, angry rappers, desperate U.S. retailers, happy shopaholic tourists, and Canadians who have finally turned the tables on us . . . what on earth is happening as 2007 draws to a close and this new edition of The Demise of the Dollar goes to press?

Although Gisele has denied making any such claim about her payment currency of preference (and has stated that she is happy to earn salaries in a variety of currencies), the fact that this story spread like wildfire through media outlets from Bloomberg and CNBC to E! News and People speaks volumes. The dollar has little cred(ibility) on the streets of New York—or pretty much on any street around the world. The twilight of the Great Dollar Standard Era is upon us. The euro is now worth almost 50 percent more than the U.S. dollar, and in Great Britain, you can get two U.S. dollars for every British pound.

In 2007, the famous refrain in the poem by Emma Lazarus describing the flood of foreigners streaming to U.S. shores needs to be updated to “Give me your tired, your rich, your huddled masses yearning to shop free.” Seven out of every $10 that fuels our gross domestic product (GDP), the measure of a nation’s productivity and hence security, comes—not from goods and services that we produce and sell—but from shopping. We’re addicted to cheap credit.