Meltdown

A Look at Why the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse

By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

The media tells us that "deregulation" and "unfettered free markets" have wrecked our economy and will continue to make things worse without a heavy dose of federal regulation. But the real blame lies elsewhere.

In Meltdown, best-selling author Thomas E. Woods, Jr., unearths the real causes behind the collapse of housing values and the stock market---and it turns out the culprits reside more in Washington than on Wall Street. And the trillions of dollars in federal bailouts? Our politicians' ham-handed attempts to fix the problems they themselves created will only make things much worse.

Woods, a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute and winner of the 2006 Templeton Enterprise Award, busts the media myths and government spin. He explains how government intervention in the economy---from the Democratic hobby horse called Fannie Mae to affirmative action programs like the Community Redevelopment Act---actually caused the housing bubble. Most important, Woods, author of the New York Times best seller The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, traces this most recent boom-and-bust---and all such booms and busts of the past century---back to one of the most revered government institutions of all: the Federal Reserve System, which allows busybody bureaucrats and ambitious politicians to pull the strings of our financial sector and manipulate the value of the very money we use.

Meltdown, which features a foreword by Congressman Ron Paul (R - Texas), also provides a timely history lesson to counter the current clamor for a new New Deal. The Great Depression, Woods demonstrates, was only as deep and as long as it was because of the government interventions by Herbert Hoover (no free-market capitalist, despite what your high-school history teacher may have taught you) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (no savior of the American economy, in spite of what the mainstream media says). If you want to understand what caused the fi...

©2009 Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read." ( Catholic Historical Review)
"Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued." ( Journal of American History)

Content OK, narration gets frustrating

I understand why many feel antagonized by the narration style. I am trying to listen to the book a 2nd time. I might agree with what's being said but the narration style does over-play the points. I believe the polarized reviews ("less than one star" ) are a reflection of being rubbed off the wrong way by it far more than the content.

The content is most definitely "one-sided", the author is explicit about his narrative, he advocates the Austrian school view of macro-economics and I wish I could find an opposing view stated so eloquently and convincingly. I write this as we hear how the stimulus is not quite working yet and ponder through its effects down the road. I've read some of Krugman's NYTimes pieces and they don't come close to being as convincing. I guess I'll keep looking.

Enough Blame To Go Around for Everyone On This One

Author, Thomas Woods, does a very good job in connecting the dots throughout our recent history in this country, as to what caused the current economic recession and housing collapse. Of course, not everyone’s going to agree with his version and depiction of history, but he does make a lot of sense and unveils a lot of the shenanigans that were happening both in Washington, and on Wall Street.

My personal take on the economic meltdown is that we all have some degree of responsibility, from the White House to Wall Street to Main Street, and it doesn’t make a whole bit of sense to continue the finger-pointing, but for everyone to get their "oars in the water", be more fiscally responsible, politically responsible and socially responsible as we work together to pull ourselves out of this economic recession.

As a consumer and small business entrepreneur myself, I’m going to make sure that I began to “do my due diligence and read between the lines” more than ever before in regards to who I elect as my political representatives, and to inform myself as best I can. Of course, there are always going to be things happening in the White House and on Wall Street that us commoners don’t get a chance to see and understand with transparency, but as far in our everyday life, well I’ll have to make a better effort to understand situations that may compromise me whether it is politically, socially or financially.

This book was a little bit heavy on details, but all in all I thought it was very thorough and help me see a bigger picture of what primarily caused us to get into the economic climate that we’re in.... and what we can do to get out of it!

What an eye opener!

This book is an eye opener. A down-to-earth look at how this economic disaster happened. I have listened to this book twice. Highly recommended. Well worth a download credit. It will change the way you think. Watch your favorite financial network for a week, then listen to this book. Then watch your favorite financial network again. You will see right through these talking heads and laugh at the obvious propaganda they are trying to shovel. It is very rare that I listen to any audiobook twice. There's so many things that have to be "right" about it. The content, the narrator, my interest level and attention span, etc. This audiobook fits that narrow window. A real eye opener!

The Best Explanation to the Crash

Less self aggrandizing than Peter Schiff, Thomas Woods lays out the 2008 crisis, why banks failed and why current policies are holding back the potential of the US markets. A great vindication for the Austrian school of thought and ammunition and understanding to an opposing view to the Krugmans and other Keynesians of the world.

How the Fed controls it all.

Thomas E Woods does a great job explaining to the average guy, how altruism in the Government, makes a problem worse.

One of the top 5 books you can ever read.

Where does Meltdown rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book is a must read, one of the most informative and accurate books.

If everyone read this book....

... we would soon put an end to the economic problems which have plagued our civilization of late.

Starting point to awakening

Thus isn’t exhaustive treatise but is the perfect jumping off point to get you started on learning about the onlu school of economic thought who can fully explain the business cycle phenomenon that continues to rear its ugly head in all major industrialized societies who have central banks and fiat money (all of the former have the latter).

Meltdown makes Lava Economics Easy to Understand

Meltdown is a book that every red blooded American that works hard or not needs to listen to or read this book NOW. It's forwarded by the Congressman from TX, (D) Ron Paul, who endorses the book with vigor. This book goes through step by step why the bailout will only prolong the recession and even worse- depression! But seriously if you want to know what you are not hearing in the mainstream news media, print or even radio read this book which articulates complex subjects into easy to understand English.

Easy to understand, because its full of TRUTH

Good narration, very well written, without hyperbole. I have good knowledge of economics, but my wife does not, and she was able to follow along well. I highly recommend this selection.