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As to the four very small chapters which purportedly give advice to those who ask "what should I do.", that advice can be boiled down to just a few phrases: plan carefully; be wary and cautious; and do your research. Most of us already know about that, and yet most of this book does nothing but restate all this history, with details, of course. The only value I got from this book was the inclusion of web site addresses which give economic and financial information. This is just another book which says that the economy is in bad shape, and which essentially gives the same old historical details about why the economy is in bad shape. Although I think most of this history is correct, so what.
So it was for me more of a checklist - not necessarily one of impending doom. Not very likely - but one should be cautious with how one structures one's affairs. If you think that the perfect storm is total collapse of the economic system, this is your book. Probability of everything outlined in this book actually happening.
Buy copies of this for your friends---they'll soon be very grateful that you did. Several years ago, virtually alone, Panzner predicted (in great detail) exactly what has now actually come to pass over the last few years, and---perhaps much more importantly, he warned us exactly what is coming in the near future.Several years ago, he was regarded as being "an alarmist"; now, we recognize that he was (and is) a PROPHET.I believe we all should read this book very carefully, and use it to plan for our families' futures. We are in perilous times. Now (i.e., late September 2008), we all realize it.
But other than that, there is absolutely no reason to purchase this book. The fact that this got such high ratings is either a testimony to how many friends he has in the industry or how ill informed and poorly read our society is. The book takes some similar events in history and paints a potentially very scary future. Given his credentials, I would have thought he would have been mildly embarrassed to pen this. Seems little more than an attempt to sensationalize and commercialize what "can" and possibly will happen. I seldom buy financial books because most of them are simply print "scams".
However, I was stunned at how extraordinarily superficial the book was, and thus felt compelled to write a review. The one thing for sure is that there was indeed a wealth transfer that occured here: my wallet to his. I bought this one because of the reviews and a recommendation by someone, and Mr Panzner's credentials. There is little digging into what precipated some of the events, and the "advice" offered is really pathetic. He could undoubtedly do better. He certainly has the background to write a meaningful book on the subject.
And that future may come to pass, but you've got almost 200 pages of extrapolating those historical events into the future and very little else.
Panzer lays out a series of events led by a weakening dollar, national trade budget shortfalls, and credit derivative misuse that could ultimately change the face of America and our current way of life. While, I hope we never see the "armageddon" that Paznzer lays out, I do believe that we are poised for a massive recession or depression due to the recent credit and houing bubbles. I would also recommend "The Demise of the Dollar" as a follow on read to this work. If you care about your family's future financial well being, this book is a must read. This is the second edition of the work, but Panzer made some predictions in the first edition, written a few years ago, that have come to pass alrady.
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