Debt, Deficits, and the Demise of the American Economy - Hardcover

Tanous, Peter J.; Cox, Jeff

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118021517 ISBN 13: 9781118021514

Publisher: Wiley, 2011

Synopsis

What investors can do to protect their investments in the next phase of the ongoing global economic collapse

The United States is heading toward an unavoidable financial catastrophe that will paralyze the markets and the overall economy in ways never before seen. Some call this impending economic catastrophe a double-dip recession, others a financial Armageddon.

Regardless of what it's called, it is too late to stop it. Debts, Deficits, and the Demise of the American Economy is a look at how we got here, how the crisis is unfolding, and how it will end with a stock market crash in 2012, if not sooner.

• Takes you through the unraveling of the collapse, starting with a wave of sovereign debt defaults in Europe
• Predicts a stock market decline of two to three thousand points, a run on banks resulting in a major bank crisis, and rampant inflation
• Provides investment strategies, including alternative investments such as timber, farm land, and oil
• Offers a detailed proposal to get the United States out of the crisis

Debts, Deficits, and the Demise of the American Economy is a must-read, play-by-play account of the worldwide depression that is likely to unfold in the coming years.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

"The problem we now face is the most extraordinary financial crisis that I have ever seen or read about." —Former Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan (August 7, 2010, interview in the New York Times)

So begins this extraordinary book that takes the reader through a logical and linear progression toward what is likely to become the worst financial disaster in American history. The financial Armageddon will begin with the collapse of the so-called PIIGS nations—first Greece, then Ireland—leading to a crisis of confidence in European banks and a sharp devaluation of the euro. Speculation about the fate of the EU will spark a trading frenzy in world equities markets, and the rising uncertainty will bring a rapid decline in world stock markets. The bond markets will all but shut down, and interest rates will spike. In short order, the focus will shift from Europe to the United States and its monumental debt and out-of-control deficit spending. The U.S. Treasury will shift its printing presses into high gear as it churns out additional billions to cover its debts, but America's deteriorating financial condition will cause a spike in interest rates as buyers of U.S. Treasuries lose confidence. Several states will default on their municipal debt; in many cases, retirement checks to former state employees will cease. From there, events inexorably will lead to soaring inflation of an order not seen since the 1970s.

If this grim scenario seems far-fetched to you now, it won't by the time you're done reading this harrowing account of the current state of the world financial system.

Authors Peter Tanous and Jeff Cox brush aside the "blue skies" propaganda coming out of Washington and the New York Fed to offer a cold-eyed assessment of the facts. Step by painful step, they delineate the events that have led us to the current state of affairs until they arrive at the inescapable conclusion that decades of profligate spending by government and reckless speculation in the financial markets have taken us too far down the path of destruction for us to entertain any ideas of turning back. Global economic collapse may be inevitable. The only question remaining now is what you can do to protect your assets until the crisis blows over.

In answer to that question, Tanous and Cox explain why Modern Portfolio Theory and the traditional 60/40 portfolio structure no longer apply. In their place, the authors offer a set of inflation-busting asset allocation strategies that include a substantial investment of real assets—including oil, gold, timber, and even farmland—as well as inflation-protected bonds.

A storm is coming. How soon, exactly, it will arrive, no one can say for sure. If you want to know how it will shake out and what you can do to shield your hard-earned assets from the worst of it, read Debt, Deficits, and the Demise of the American Economy.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for DEBT, DEFICITS, AND THE DEMISE OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY

"Before reading this book, I was concerned. Now I am scared. Hopefully, this admirable message will provide material to those legislators fighting for more robust, low-debt, deficit-free systems. I thank the authors for fighting for economic safety." —NASSIM Nicholas TALEB, Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering, NYU, and author of The Black Swan

"Tanous and Cox brilliantly explain how the United States got into the financial hole. But better yet, they explain how we can get out of it. Here is the sure path to renewed prosperity if we will only follow it." —SAM DONALDSON, ABC News Correspondent

"An important business book about how we've ended up at this desperate juncture for our economy. Tanous and Cox don't merely chart the path to our demise, they construct an effective road map back to prosperity that all policymakers should heed." —Dr. ARTHUR LAFFER, Chairman, Laffer Associates

"A chilling account of what will happen if our political leaders do not take immediate steps to resolve the number-one threat to our great nation: massive federal budget deficits that are growing exponentially with no end in sight. Must reading." —WILLIAM M. ISAAC, former chairman, FDIC, and author of Senseless Panic: How Washington Failed America

"Debt, Deficits and the Demise of the American Economy is a sobering and frightful account of the nation's financial challenges that should be read and understood by all Americans, whether they agree with the authors' conclusions or not." —Steve Liesman, Senior Economics Reporter, CNBC

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1118021517
• ISBN 13: 9781118021514
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224