Empire of Debt Book Review | Silver Monthly - The Silver Investor's Resource - 2 views
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America’s delusion is this: debt doesn’t matter, and “the rest of the world will take American IOUs forever.”
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There’s only thing wrong with the American Empire. “Instead of getting paid for providing protection, the United States is on the receiving end of loans from its tributary states and trading partners.” In other words, instead of functioning as a proper empire, which means making a profit, America malfunctions as an Empire of Debt.
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The authors suggest that America has sold its birthright to China for a mess of pottage. They point out that “consumer spending is 71% of the U.S. economy. Current U.S. debt is about $37 trillion. The total value of all assets in America is only about $50 trillion.”
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there are three ways for America to reduce its debt. The U.S. dollar can be devalued. The dollar can be made less valuable because of inflation. Or the debt may be forsaken.
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Empire of Debt was published in 2006. It stated bluntly that the housing market occupied the center of an inflated bubble. The authors asserted the bubble would pop, leaving a sticky residue everywhere. They were right. The authors stated that Alan Greenspan's policies were detrimental to the U.S. economy. They were right. Empire of Debt not only identified the problems, but it provided a solution. Invest in gold or the Japanese yen. It would appear that once again they were right. The yen is strong and gold has made a phenomenal run, selling for over $1000 per ounce.