Aftershock: Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown

aftershock was excellent. I compared what this book said to end the fed, crashproof, crashproof 2.0, don't start revolution without me, and shadows of power. All of them agree that we cannot continue to borrow from other countries to finance this massive debt that we are continually running up. All of them are saying that we will experience massive inflation and other undesirable consequences. What I liked about aftershock was it had the bubbles explained in details. I agree that 4 popped and have been temporarily re-inflated. And they will burst making a bigger POP. The last two are the dollar and govt debt. Its happening in Greece, happened in Zimbabwe, and throughout history no fiat dollar has survived as long as the dollar which is a note. Few people know what a fiat currency is :-( The question that remains somewhat unanswered is where to park assets for preservation and not so much for a gain. I do not see it in real estate nor stocks. I question if the plunge protection team is keeping the stocks up ( & precious metals down) and this is why the fed reserve is not audited. But that is off topic. The only chance we have of saving the dollar is a full audit of the federal reserve (end the fed by Dr. Ron Paul explains it quite well). And probably shutting the fed res down. The fed is allowing the Washington politicians from both parties to spend our children's and grandchildren's futures away. We need PAYGO now and not years from now when we are forced to live within our means. I gave this book a 5 star rating. I would rank all of the ones I listed above at at least a 4.5 stars. I recommended this book to friends followed by crashproof 2.0 (by Peter Shiff who is running in Conn for office - I see Dodds decided to not debate him and retire instead hmmmm) and shadows of power by Perloff (to read how these economic problems were set up in 1913 by President Wilson).. I wish more people would read and be informed of what is going on with the country and their wallets and their futures.

Although I don't particularly like the way this book is written and disagree with most of the irrelevant asides offered in support of the analyses: I find this to be the most complete and comprehensive analysis of America's ongoing economic problems that I have thus far encountered. In addition: the reasoned deductions which the authors draw from their analyses are far ranging and logical; and, for the most part, the conclusions which they reach are well justified and difficult to dispute. So, if you are looking for a book that will give you some valuable insight into what is happening to the U.S. economy today, and why; which explains how the ultimate collapse of that economy and the U.S. dollar will take place; and which forecasts what the United States and the world at large will be like following that calamity, then this is certainly a book which you should read. I won't attempt to outline the book since other reviewers have probably done that already; and besides that might spoil the fun for you, the reader. But I would like to point out some of the seemingly gratuitous "asides" [not pertaining directly to the analyses] with which I disagree. On page 170, the authors praise Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) for freeing the U.S. from the requirement to back its currency with gold, instead backing in by "the full faith and credit of the United States government." In my view, no praise is warranted, since FDR's actions helped set the U.S. on the path toward to its own economic destruction. Also on page 170, the authors state that in 1973 the United States went off the International Gold Standard [stopped redeeming foreign-held U.S. dollars for gold in accordance with the Bretton Woods Agreement signed in 1944] because that was the only way we could continue to buy foreign goods. In reality, the U.S. was forced to stop redeeming foreign-held dollars for gold because by 1973 we had inflated our currency to such an extent that France and Great Britain began to question the safety of our currency and there was a run on our gold reserves. On page 188, the authors once again praise FDR for crossing over political boundaries to push through his New Deal policies. It is fairly common knowledge nowadays, however, that FDR's policies helped propel what is thought to have been a probable recession into a thirteen year depression ended only by America's entry into World War II. On page 195, the authors use the example of an independent physicist who, following the Challenger Accident in 1986, performed a simple experiment to show NASA why the accident occurred. In reality, Thiokol engineers pleaded with NASA not to launch STS-51L because the O-rings were colder than 53 degrees Fahrenheit. The decision to launch was made for political reasons not out of ignorance. On page 196, the authors praise the book "Silent Spring." That book, of course, misrepresented the science concerning DDT leading to its being banned and resulting in several millio

"That's right. The bank and corporate bailout money is not coming from our taxes. Instead we're just borrowing it from foreign investors. We're also printing some of it...Of course, we will never, ever have to pay it all back, because even if we tried (and we won't), we never could." That is why the U.S. Government will eventually be unable to borrow money and the nation will have to start living within it's means. That will be the beginning of the brave new world of life in America. This book is how we are speeding toward this "Bubblequake" and its "Aftershock." Although somewhat depressing (like all bad news is), this book also tells people what they can do to survive this worldwide depression and how to actually be able to make money during the painful readjustment of the world's economies. While this is a scary book because of what is happening all around us, it is also a hopeful book. The nation will survive after the country stops ignoring the basic laws of economics. The three authors are optimistic (maybe overly so) that the American people will be able to make the adjustments needed to achieve economic survival without having to become survivalists who have to grow their own food and defend their homes from roving mobs with guns. They feel that even dictators will be unable rise from the chaos because Americans will be changing its government officials as soon as it's obvious their policies don't work. There will be frequent changes in elected officials. The nation will survive because basically the country is wealthy and will still be so after the economic bubbles have all popped and forced everyone and their government to live within their means. These authors "are not bulls or bears or gold bugs, stock boosters or detractors, currency pushers, or doom-and-gloom crusaders," and "have no particular political ideology to endorse, and no dogmatic future to promote." The goal of this book is "to tell you more details about the next round of bubbles to fall while there's still time to protect your assets and position yourself to survive and thrive in this dangerous, yet potentially highly profitable new environment...Although much of what we predicted in our first book that hasn't happened yet because most of the impact of the multi-bubble collapse is still to come. This is good news because it means you still have time to get prepared." It's impossible to do justice to this book's message in a short review. The review copy I worked from is now practically destroyed by so many dog-eared pages and underline and highlighted passages. The three authors share a theory of the economy having being boosted by six economic co-linked bubbles. They are: The real estate bubble, the stock market bubble, the private debt bubble, the discretionary spending bubble, the dollar bubble and the government debt bubble. Four of those bubbles have already burst or are still in the process of collapsing. With the collapse of each bubble it puts more pressure

I normally read 2 econ/market related books a month. Aftershock is one of the best financial books I have seen in a long time. It is easy read, full of solid facts and, predicts what is about to come- without double talk. Simply put, the authors are what you may call a "one handed" economists. They give it to you straight and put their credibility on the line. And they have the credibility to be believable. They are among the very few economists who, in 2006, in the "America's Bubble Economy", predicted the economic chaos that we are now in. They predicted the financial meltdown very precisely and told us exactly how it was going to happen! Now in the Aftershock they make their prediction for the next 3-5 years. It is not all doom and gloom. They tell you their reasons for the coming inevitable crises and show you, with very specific recommendations, how to protect yourself. They also tell you how it is going to end. This book is a Must read for anyone who is in the Market as well as those who care about their financial future. Highly recommended.

I had the opportunity to meet Bob and Dave Wiedemer back in May 09 as a result of some business I was conducting. At that time they were hard at work on AFTERSHOCK - their second book. They gave me a copy of their original book - America's Bubble Economy. As soon as I read it, I was sold on their vision and philosophy of the markets. In fact I wished I had found the book back in March of 08. At that time, I was having a running argument with my financial advisors at Bernstein Alliance regarding the direction of the markets. I felt sure, based on all my research, that we were headed into a major correction, but did not have the clean, well documented framework around my arguments that were articulated in America's Bubble Economy. I continued to pester the Wiedemers for an early copy of their second book AFTERSHOCK, which they graciously provided to me in August. I devoured the book over the next few days and could not find any flaws in their logic. The book is very well laid out, extremely insightful and very easy to read. While I must admit I follow no one single investment strategy, I am in the process of slowly repositioning my investments to incorporate their recommended approach for 25 to 40% of my invested assets. For anyone who is inherently uncomfortable with their current investment options, tired of the 2 minute talking heads with their random predictions, and single brokers claiming they know which stocks to buy, AFTERSHOCK is a must read. AFTERSHOCK provides an original way to look at the current market volatility and turmoil. If after reading AFTERSHOCK, one has any doubts as to their predictions, I would strongly encourage you to read their first book America's Bubble Economy, to get a sense of just how accurately they predicted the "Great Recession" we are currently experiencing. David and Bob Wiedemer's first book, America's Bubble Economy, published in Oct. 06, not only correctly predicted the "Great Recession" we are in before it started, but more importantly they predicted it for the right reasons in the right order. They predicted it would begin with the deflating of the sub prime loan bubble and then spread to the housing bubble, credit bubble, stock market bubble and finally consumer spending. One point of disclosure please. I have become so convinced of their vision and philosophy that I elected to join their economic consulting company as the COO. I hope you find as much wisdom and pleasure in Aftershock as I did.