Endgame

The End of The Debt Supercycle And How It Changes Everything

By: John Mauldin

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

"We all know we have seen the end of an era, and now we have courtside seats to watch the Endgame unfold. We are watching the end of Act I: The Debt Supercycle. Now we will get to see how Act II: The Endgame plays out."—John Mauldin & Jonathan Tepper (Chapter 1)

Hundreds of books have been written about the financial crisis that engulfed the world after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. But what if the bigger financial crisis is ahead of us, not behind us? As John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper deftly illustrate in this controversial audio book, the crisis was more than a half-century in the making. The Great Financial Crisis, however, was merely Act I. Act II has now begun.

The massive household deleveraging and historic shift of private debt onto government balance sheets now underway all over the world represents the end of a 60-year global Debt Supercycle. We have now entered the Endgame, a time when bankruptcies and defaults (disguised as "restructuring") will not be of households and companies but of governments. The stakes are now higher. The coming crises will offer policymakers few good choices and many bad ones. It will require extraordinary clarity and courage from leaders, courage that so far is largely completely lacking. Yet, despite the authors' dark forecast, the message in Endgame is not all gloom and doom. The book lays out positive steps governments can take to weather the worst of the stormy days ahead, minimize the inevitable pain and discomfort most of us can expect to experience, and chart a bold new course to sustained economic growth and prosperity. It also offers investors an abundance of useful analysis and expert advice on how to protect their assets during the worst of it and prosper from the many new opportunities that will emerge globally as they present themselves.

In Part 2, the authors take listeners on a country-by-country tour—including the United States, UK, European countries, and Japan—clearly explaining the problems each country faces, as well as the good and bad policy options open to each, and the investment pitfalls and opportunities likely to be found in each national economy.

Whether you call it the Great Recession, the Great Financial Crisis, or the Global Debt Crisis, what we are experiencing is unlike anything seen in 80 years. Now is not the time to succumb to panic and superstition. It is a time for courage and intelligent decision making informed by the brand of rational analysis and wisdom you'll find in Endgame.

©2011 John Mauldin (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp

an important message for all of us

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. The main message seems to be that there aint no such thing as a free lunch, and that many individuals, companies, and governments act as though there is. The bill eventually will come due.

What did you like best about this story?

The consistent message supported by stories of individuals, companies and governments that continue to put off the day of reckoning, which only makes it more expensive.

What does Sean Pratt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It was a pretty straightforward reading of an unemotional book.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

pay now or pay later - later it will cost much more.

Any additional comments?

The main theme of the book is that we all live beyond our means and that until we correct that imbalance, we will not be financially healthy. I think that it is a message that we all need to hear and understand - and act on.

Set "HOLYCRAP!" meters to '10'...

The book is extremely well-performed and well-written. It builds complex concepts from simple ones and uses a style that delivers similarly-concerning messages for different countries in fresh ways. I kept looking forward to coming back to the book and hoping I could reach the end before one of the many economic time-bombs went off.

Read it and start voting for people who will make hard choices quickly.

John Mauldin has condensed the essence of America'

John Mauldin has condensed the essence of America's debt problem into laymen's terms in what is a very readable style. You don't have to be an economist (remember God created economists to make astrologers look respectable)to understand what is likely to happen to us all if we don't get busy and replace some of our socialist leaders in Washington. Maulding uses the analogy of avalanche simulation to see where all the tendrils of risk have created instability in our financial world. I would read this book before I went to bed tonight!! That's how important it is.

Wonderful Financial Insights

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

This is one of the better summaries of where we have been and what to expect in the future. Mauldin has a great way of sharing his knowledge.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Endgame?

This is not a novel. It is a set of conditions that explain where we are now and how we got here plus what to expect in the future. There is a lot of information here that I found fascinating.

Which character – as performed by Sean Pratt – was your favorite?

No characters, really, except for the author.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but it was very interesting.

Any additional comments?

I especially enjoy the author's recap of other countries and what led them into the financial position they are in today. It made me realize how difficult it will be to extract ourselves from the financial problems already created by our politicians and political advisors.

Modern Crisis

Unlike other financial and economic books that I've read, Endgame tackles the current problem in the world crisis. I like this book because unlike reading about history, you are reading the modern crisis and clear cut explanation on what is going on.

For example, the simple example on what is going on with Grease and you don't need a MBA to understand. The author also does a sub par job at explaining what should we do to increase our GOP. While it's not groundbreaking ideas, such as adding 30 cents on fuel to get off from foreign oil and allowing certain illegal immigrants buying homes for taxes, or no capital gain for small businesses, all of his ideas aren't too far fetch on what we should be doing,

As far Europe and after reading Endgame. Like the Great Wall in China, their economic status won't be standing for another 200 years, yet alone 2000.

The payoff of Endgame is during the last two hours in the book. John Mauldin goes global and explain each countries their "current" situation with their financial crisis.

Instead of learning what happened in the past, Endgame is reporting of what is going on in the present times.

Don't read this book after knowing the aftermath, read this book while we are in it.

Awesome

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. If a person is interested at all about the economy, this is a great book.

What does Sean Pratt bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The person reading the book is very easy to listen to.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I have been trying to learn more about the economy over the last two years and this is one of the best books I have listened to.

Truly Insightful

Would you listen to Endgame again? Why?

It's a frightening account of what the world has become. I would listen to it again, and I think it should be required reading for every American.

There's a tremendous lack of leadership in our country's political environment which only mirrors it's citizens apparent unwillingness to pay the piper before it's too late.

Interesting but speculative

Economic discussion is interesting, but narration is sometimes a bit broken, and the predictions are somewhat extreme.

If you do not play by the rules, it's Endgame.

Over the last few years I have read so many books about the economy and basic economic theory. Most of them were too hard and were difficult to understand. John Mauldin, Endgame book is very easy to understand. He uses lots of very simple examples to get his point across. As he points out governments are no different then people, both can get themselves into financial difficulties. He compares governments to households with a mortgage. It's easy to pay down your mortgage with easy monthly payments. But if your mortgage payments are going up faster than your income, your debt level will grow. For countries it is the same. And can reach a point of no return for countries, when interest rates are rising faster than their growth rates. At that stage, there is no hope of stabilizing the deficit. This is the situation so many countries in the developed world now find themselves in. Mr J D Thomson, Wellington, New Zealand.

Interesting, scary, informative

It is hard to make a book on economics both informative and interesting but John Mauldin has done it. He paints a richly detailed picture of the "endgame" for America's and the world's economies. As a nation our leaders (yes we voted for them) have over many decades continued to make very poor decisions and now the time has come to pay the piper. How bad will it end? Read the book and see. You may not agree with all of the writer's opinions but you will understand where and why we are in the current economic crisis.