An engaging and practical romp through contemporary financial and economic history—and what it means for your financial future Economic booms and busts are happening with more frequency. Since the turn of the new millennium, fortunes have been made and lost at a blistering pace. Each boom is like the tension building up before an earthquake. Seismologists can detect the build-up, but they can't necessarily explain why—or when—the next quake will hit. Economic busts can be equally devastating…and followed by numerous aftershocks. In this entertaining romp through recent economic and financial history, best-selling author, Addison Wiggin, traces the primary trends that have led up to rapid economic growth and innovation while keeping an eye on the inevitable downturn. The author practices "literary economics," telling stories about the characters behind the scenes and their motives, making this wide-ranging book easy-to-read. The current edition has been revised, adapted, and re-imagined, enlightening readers about what's happening behind today's top headlines: The rise of new financial innovations over the past decade, including cryptocurrencies, mobile trading platforms, and the democratization of financial markets How the policies of the Federal Reserve following the Panic of '08 led an entire generation to become unwitting speculators in stocks, bonds, real estate, and rare commodities What impact new political trends—environmental, social, governance (ESG) and diversity equity and inclusion (DEI)—have had on managing your own money Ultimately, the book helps place current events in the context of identifiable historical trends. The book proposes that when you understand what the primary trends are and follow them to their logical conclusion, it makes planning for your financial future much easier. What will be the role of the US economy in the future as policy makers try to grapple with new competition, economic and political, from Brazil, Russia, India, China - the so-called BRICs? The author follows the facts, the trends, and the stories that make up history and parlays them into forecasts for what he sees coming next. Ultimately, you'll get a review of previous trades and a new Trade of the Decade. Enjoy.

A devastatingly incisive look at the devaluation of the American dollar and how it impacts you In the newly revised third edition of Demise of the Dollar: From the Bailouts to the Pandemic and Beyond, New York Times and international bestselling author Addison Wiggin delivers yet another timely and insightful account of the devaluation of the American dollar. Fully updated to consider the events of the last ten years—including the COVID-19 pandemic—the book contains nuanced discussions of historic inflation, interest rates and the Federal Reserve, the impact the Euro has had since its introduction, the rise of China prior to the pandemic, cryptocurrencies and the United States’ consumer debt addiction. It also demonstrates how all these factors, and more, are affected by the American dollar’s role as the world’s “reserve currency”. You’ll learn what a weakened American dollar means for your portfolio and how you can best arrange your finances to protect against global macroeconomic risks. You’ll find: Strategies for making your portfolio more resilient against economic shocks, downturns, and crises Explorations of what increasing levels of US consumer debt mean for your investments, and for the world’s largest economics Examinations of how foreign countries have come to control the economic fate of the United States via the issuance of debt A fascinating account of one of the most important trends in American economics in the last hundred years, Demise of the Dollar offers incisive observations about the factors driving the world’s contemporary economies and specific and strategic guidance on how to structure your portfolio to survive, and even thrive, in a new financial environment.

"Early reviewers have dubbed I.O.U.S.A. An Inconvenient Truth for the economy."
--The Washington Post

"The next president better take this seriously, or I fear that we'll be in a much worse situation than a recession."
--David Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States

The United States has been spending its way deeper and deeper into the red, and saddling future generations with the mess--but who's paying attention?

To answer that question, the companion book to the critically acclaimed documentary I.O.U.S.A. talks with some of the most revered voices in the nation, including Warren Buffett; former Treasury Secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin; Pete Peterson, CEO of The Blackstone Group; Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas); and bestselling Empire of Debt author Bill Bonner.

Armed with these interviews, historical references, and damning statistics, the book takes a lively and entertaining romp through the four deficits the nation faces: the budget deficit, the personal savings deficit, the trade deficit--and what former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, who resigned abruptly in 2008 over Congress's lack of action, calls the "leadership deficit" in Washington.

Defiantly non-partisan, the empowering solutions outlined in these pages are a must-read for any American who wants to help change "business-as-usual" in Washington as a new administration heads towards the Oval Office. "We the People" can get our politicians to stop spending, promote responsible economic programs, and hand our children and grandchildren the secure future they deserve.

Addison Wiggin is the Executive Publisher of Agora Financial, an investment research firm based inBaltimore, Maryland. Agora publishes The Daily Reckoning, a financial newsletter with more than 500,000 readers in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, and is translated daily into French, German, and Spanish (www.dailyreckoning.com). It has received praise from mainstream publications, including Money, New York Times Magazine, and MarketWatch.com. Mr. Wiggin is the coauthor with Bill Bonner of the international bestsellers Financial Reckoning Day and Empire of Debt, and author of The Demise of the

Dollar . . . And Why It's Even Better for Your Investments. He is also the Executive Producer and a writer of the feature-length documentary film I.O.U.S.A., which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.