Currency Wars

The Making of the Next Global Crises

By: James Rickards

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1971, President Nixon imposed national price controls and took the United States off the gold standard, an extreme measure intended to end an ongoing currency war that had destroyed faith in the U.S. dollar. Today we are engaged in a new currency war, and this time the consequences will be far worse than those that confronted Nixon. Currency wars are one of the most destructive and feared outcomes in international economics. At best, they offer the sorry spectacle of countries' stealing growth from their trading partners. At worst, they degenerate into sequential bouts of inflation, recession, retaliation, and sometimes actual violence. Left unchecked, the next currency war could lead to a crisis worse than the panic of 2008.Currency wars have happened before-twice in the last century alone-and they always end badly. Time and again, paper currencies have collapsed, assets have been frozen, gold has been confiscated, and capital controls have been imposed. And the next crash is overdue. Recent headlines about the debasement of the dollar, bailouts in Greece and Ireland, and Chinese currency manipulation are all indicators of the growing conflict.As James Rickards argues in Currency Wars, this is more than just a concern for economists and investors. The United States is facing serious threats to its national security, from clandestine gold purchases by China to the hidden agendas of sovereign wealth funds. Greater than any single threat is the very real danger of the collapse of the dollar itself.Baffling to many observers is the rank failure of economists to foresee or prevent the economic catastrophes of recent years. Not only have their theories failed to prevent calamity, they are making the currency wars worse. The U. S. Federal Reserve has engaged in the greatest gamble in the history of finance, a sustained effort to stimulate the economy by printing money on a trillion-dollar scale. Its solutions present hidden new dangers while resolving none of the current dilemmas. While the outcome of the new currency war is not yet certain, some version of the worst-case scenario is almost inevitable if U.S. and world economic leaders fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors.

©2011 James Rickards (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

"[Rickards] presents a compelling case for his views and offers thought-provoking information for library patrons. This is a must-read book." ( Booklist)

Great listen.

Would you consider the audio edition of Currency Wars to be better than the print version?

don't know.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Currency Wars?

Great overall content, kept me interested all the way through and wanted more when it was over.

MUST READ book for everyone

This book is a well balanced mix of history, analysis, and conjecture. For over 5000 years, gold was money and money was gold. At times silver acted as a proxy for gold, but money was always based on something durable and costly to produce. Beginning with the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913 the US began to base more of its currency on faith and less on hard assets like gold and silver. The US completely divorced the dollar from hard assets when Richard Nixon closed the "Gold Window" in 1971. Since then the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world have been in a "race to the bottom" devaluations the currencies for trading advantage by printing ever more and more currency. This can not go on for ever and it is only a matter of time on the party ends and the bill must be paid.

I found this to be a well written (well read) and calm account of were we have been and how we have gotten where we are in the global financial arena. This is fascinating information for the financially curious and history buffs alike. Anyone with a vested interest in the future needs to read this book.

Good but the middle half is boring

only the first quarter and the last quarter of the book is interesting. but the interesting parts are interesting.

Great book!

Good read! He makes many good points and possible solutions on the problems we face.

An interesting spin on today's leadership

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It was quite informative about governments and the many things they do to manipulate money and markets.I think we would all be upset if we knew the kinds of things that are being done to our monetary system.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

How the government was doing simulations and using financial experts to guide them.The many technical facts,which were sometimes hard to follow.At least you can always go back and rewind.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Since the charecters in this book were all financial instruments I think the voice was appropriate for the book.

Do you think Currency Wars needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

It is quite comprehensive by itself.I don't feel the author left anything for future writing.

Any additional comments?

Obama is applying this stuff right now with Iran and the oil embargo.Perhaps the U.S. has finally figured out it can't continue to pour money into the military which isn't financially sound.Americans have to deal with all the hyper inflation created by the printing of money and along with that jobs are being replaced by computers.The American leaders need to be financially savvy.We have lost our edge.

Astounding

The information shared in this book is astounding. So much that the average person never knew. Worth the time spent.

Excellent read

this is a well written book. it was very easy to understand and makes the reader aware of what is going on behind the distractions in the economy. the books allows one to dig deeper into learning more about the economy.

Scary - good

The information contained in JR'S book is important enough that each person over the age of 15, in the USA, should read it. Many of us have an instinct about banking, the FED, Treasury, and global monetary manipulation but JR'S work pulls it together so I can grasp the whole picture. Now what to do with the new information? Yikes!

Necessary Information for Middle Class America

Would you listen to Currency Wars again? Why?

The Dollar effects every American's quality of life yet few of us understand how. This book increased my understanding yet I had to be patient with some of the segments due to information overload. I gained more understanding about the Federal Reserve and political polices. Most importantly new understanding on how the Dollar along with other currencies have been intentionally manipulated through out history and why it causes more problems than it solves. This book is for learning.. no so much for pleasure. But I agree is a highly important subject and if more American's would take the time to read/listen to books like it we could get back on the right track.

What other book might you compare Currency Wars to and why?

Rich Dad's Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver by Mike Moloney. Why??? For the history of money, currency and fallen Empires. Wealth cycles and the transfer of wealth.

Gripping read about the future of US dollar

Any additional comments?

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook with numerous important facts about the US dollar and currency wars - a subject that is very hard to find info on.