The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System by James Rickards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book after watching a video that advertised Rickard's books. He gave explanations for my own observations after the Recession of 2008 and our government's and Federal Reserves's actions since that time.
I remember how volatile markets were in their churning motions every time Geithner or Bernacke issued a statement. My own plan for living off the interest of ladders of Treasury Notes is no longer feasible. How can I help my grandchildren save for their future college expenses when available interest rates are less than inflation rates? To put it bluntly, we middle-class savers are screwed. Rickard suggests, "These solutions involve breaking banks into units that are not too big to fail; returning to a system of regional stock exchanges, to provide redundancy; and reintroducing gold into the monetary system since gold cannot be wiped out in a digital flash." Rickard suggests gold; land; actively managed hedge funds (but don't you have to be an accreditied investor?); fine art; and cash (Singapore dollars, Canadian Dollars, US Dollars, and Euros.
This book is worth reading.

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Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis by James Rickards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I heard about this book and its sequel The Death of Money from an interview video, and the topic interested me as I am always interested in an explanation of economic policies that seem to be harmful to my self and other family members. This economic part of our history interests me as I try to understand what type of conditions my ancestors lived in when they had to make decisions to seek other opportunities. No, this book does not closely cover the topics of what happened to individuals. Instead it covers the topics of what happens to governments and trade between nations. It discusses international monetary systems that collapsed in 1914, 1939, and 1971 and the patches used to restore the availability of trusted money. Rickard believes the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve need to work more closely with the national security community to help the country prepare for what may be ahead.
I recommend this book to readers who have an interest in economics and history.




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