• The Demise of the Dollar... and Why It's Great For Your Investments (Demise of the Dollar & Why It's Even Better for Your Investments)
• Financial Reckoning Day: Surviving the Soft Depression of the 21st Century

In Empire of Debt, maverick financial writers Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin provide you with the first in-depth look at how the American character has shifted to accommodate its new imperial role; how we have abandoned the private virtues of personal liberty, economic freedom, and fiscal restraint; and how the government has gained control of public life and the economy.
Many Americans have resisted the notion that their country is an imperial power. The idea seems to contradict the values of the Republic and its Founding Fathers. But in Empire of Debt, prominent financial analysts Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin argue passionately that not only is the United States an empire, but it is also one whose end is coming soon. Bonner and Wiggin are the brains behind www.dailyreckoning.com, an iconoclastic and irreverent market advisory service that has long raised concerns about American indebtedness and warned of a looming dollar crisis. In Empire of Debt, a sequel to their earlier doom-and-gloom book Financial Reckoning Day, they elaborate on their argument that the U.S. economy is about to implode.

Bonner and Wiggin enumerate a long list of chronic ailments that imperil the American financial system--a massive trade deficit, soaring personal and government debt, a housing bubble, runaway military expenditures. These problems "hardly disturb the sleep of the imperial race," the authors write. "[But] all empires must pass away." Bonner and Wiggin argue that American imperial delusions are similar to the fantasies that fueled the dot-com market mania. They recommend readers buy gold as insurance in the event of a financial crisis. Empire of Debt flounders when discussing how America indebted itself; the authors blame the Federal Reserve Board's low interest rates but gloss over the fact that rates were slashed because the U.S. teetered on the brink of deflation in 2002 and 2003 (a topic they give more attention to in Financial Reckoning Day). As hardcore free-marketeers, Bonner and Wiggin also seem to long for the pre-welfare days of the 1920s but forget how that period's policies led to the Great Depression. That said, Empire of Debt contains many revelations that will open eyes. --Alex Roslin

Customer Rating:
Summary: doom and gloom view with a historical perspective
Comment: Unlike other doom and gloom books on American economy including "the Demise of the dollar","The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It", "The Bust Ahead", or "America's Financial Apocalypse", this book provides more indepth analysis and commentary about American economy, consumerism culture, and politics from a historical perspective. It's a 384 pages book, if you have plenty time and enjoy reading about economy and history like myself, you will enjoy this well researched and written book.

There's no specific investment advice in this volume, but you do find gems and wisdoms about investing here and there. The major theme and idea of this book are succinctly summarized in much less pages in the newly released book and documentary/DVD "I.O.U.S.A."

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Seeing things as they really are rather than as we'd like them to be
Comment: A prognosis most Americans have not wanted to hear for decades (until now when sadly the disease can no longer be ignored). Philosophical but easy to read for anyone willing to expend a little thought/effort, and read with an open mind. Almost everone who reads it will find something offensive to their perceptions of the world we live in, but that's the point. Some might see this as gloom & doom but it's excellent at cutting through perceptions to expose realities; and perhaps more important how reality and perceptions so easily and stealthily diverged from one another.

I don't agree with every cause and effect or conclusion but overall Bonner is spot on. As a treatise to show the ill effects of blind trust, overreaching government, misleading press, ignoring history and human frailities - this would make excellent reading in HS or at least college where we want to teach that it's not just OK to challenge conventional wisdom and leaders, but that our long term freedoms rely on us doing so.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Rambling and repetitive
Comment: Bonner can turn a phrase but his arguments get old after about half way through. The book is also dated. Instead of this one, try "Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets," where he has an outstanding writing partner in libertarian journalist Lila Rajiva. It is much better written on every level (especially if you like savage humor) and speaks to the current crisis in a very sophisticated but accessible way.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Who was surprised?
Comment: I just finished the book in time to turn on the news that my bank, WaMu, has been seized and sold in one motion. Now the boys in Washington are telling us that they were caught by surprise and have to craft a solution that needs to be passed in days if not hours. President George "Chicken Little" Bush has appeared to tell us that we will face the fires of hell if we don't pass his (and his cronies) best guesses at a solution. Hmmm, WMDs anyone?

Bonner and Wiggin predicted the whole thing well in advance and since I don't subscribe to the divine revelation theory of economic analysis it is clear to me that the situation was clear to others as well. Evidently none of those people were at the SEC or in goverment until yesterday. Glad they could show up but I am seriously frightened by what they might do now that they are belly up to the bar.

We, as a people, have got to get educated and yesterday would have been a good day to start. This book is an example of the information that is available. It is up to us to begin to us it.

Bonner and Wiggin recommend gold but that is clearly indicated to be a strategy available to the less connected and less sophisticated investor. For the savvy folks who are in Martha Stewarts phone tree, they recommend investments in companys in contrast to stocks. The company performance is the criteria, not the stock and they require different approaches that are explained in the book. The basic difference is the amount of effort and the methodology for investment. Personally that phone tree looks pretty good to me...

Good luck everyone.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Economics with a Flair of Irony
Comment: I love this book. I must have read it thru ten times already.

Don't let the title scare you. Bonner and Wiggin bring a dull subject to life with an irreverent but refreshing take on history.

"Would the nation be better off if Lincoln had not slaughtered so many Southerners?" they ask. "Would world history have been worse if Wilson had not meddled in World War 1."

Political correctness is cast aside. Party propaganda is ignored. National heroes get skewered. "The most popular American presidents were those who stole most beautifully," they intone, describing the logic of democratic larceny. These guys love to poke fun at pompous politicians.

The authors do get serious. After relating the rise and demise of past empires, they report that America is headed for the same fate. She has moved away from her founding principles, away from the freedoms of republic and into the clutches of empire.

With the inexorable rise of the state come delusions of grandeur and pseudo patriotism. Government intrusion crowds out free enterprise. Civil liberties are tossed in favor of fast money. Original thought gives way to corporate cool. History is relegated to the dustbin.

We are consumed with the running of empire. We mind everyone's business but our own. We shred the Constitution for wars without end.

Wave good-bye to the American Republic. Say hello to the Empire of Debt.

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