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| The Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit from It: Make a Fortune by Investing in Gold and Other Hard Assets | 
 enlarge | Authors: James Turk, John Rubino
Publisher: Doubleday Business
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 4015
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0385512244
Dewey Decimal Number: 332
EAN: 9780385512244
ASIN: 0385512244
Publication Date: January 29, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 Timely Advice for Our Fiat Currency March 27, 2006
44 out of 44 found this review helpful
I just finished reading The Coming Collapse of the Dollar and How to Profit From It By James Turk & John Rubino published in 2004. James Turk is founder of GoldMoney.com, the leading digital gold currency payment system. John Rubino is the author of How to Profit from the Real Estate Bust.
I've posted a lot about inflation and gold, the Federal Reserve, and the destruction of the US Dollar. I have read about the inflation that Germany experienced after WWII, the devaluation of the Mexican Peso and the Argentine Peso. If that is our future, I wanted to have some idea of what is in store for us and. The book is divided into four parts and is well written and difficult concepts are explained well:
Part One - Why the dollar will collapse
Part Two - Money Then and Now
Part Three - Wht Gold Will Soar
Part Four - Profiting From The Dollar's Collapse
In part one we learn that we have a fiat currency, backed by nothing except a decree that the US Dollar is legal tender. Throughout history, in order for governments to satisfy demands without raising taxes, a government not only begins to debase its money, but inflates as well. Both are happening in the US and no government has been successful. We have a history of that in this country with the Continentals and the Confederate currency, both worthless.
Another fact that dooms our currency is that we have too much debt. Total unfunded liabilities of the US are in excess of $43 Trillion, as a society we owe another $37 Trillion and Derivatives are in excess of $200 Trillion.
Then we have a trade imbalance which just topped $800 Billion for 2005. We have been up in arms lately by the Chinese wanting to buy Unocal, then Dubai wanting to own our eastern port management companies and Dubai wanting to own some of our critical defense industry by trying to buy Doncasters Turk and Rubino point out on p31:
Foreign investors now own about $8 trillion of U.S. financial assets, including 13 percent of all U.S. stocks, 24 percent of corporate bonds, 43 percent of Treasury bonds, and 14 percent of government agency debt. By the end of 2003, about a third of Fannie Mae's mortgage-backed bonds were being sold outside of the U.S.
That was in 2003 and it has gotten considerably worse. What's in store for us:
Over time, the gap between tax revenue and the demands placed on government tends to grow, and spending, borrowing, and currency creation begin to expand at increasing rates. Inflation accelerates, and the populace comes to see the process of "debasement" for what it is: the destruction of their savings. They abandon the currency en masse, spending it or converting it to more stable forms of money as fast as possible. The currency's value plunges (another way of saying prices soar), wiping out the accumulated savings of a whole generation. Such is the fate of every fiat currency.
The government wants to keep this game going as long as possible by issuing phony CPI numbers, then by excluding energy and food, concentrating on a "core" rate. Phoney low inflation numbers keep bond yields down and "COLA" adjustments low. What is the housing bubble, but selling USDs for a tangible asset. Gold is a warning sign and a rising gold exchange rate is fought by capping and leasing gold, until the central banks are short 12,000 to 16,000 tons. And now one of the tools Turk and Rubino use, The Fear Index, to gauge where gold is going in the next few years will be handicapped by the ending of release of M3 data.
Turk and Rubino do an excellent job of instructing you in Part Four. Can you profit from your knowledge of an impending collapse of the dollar? How can you protect yourself? How can you protect your accumulated savings?
I highly recommend this book to professional and novice, alike.
 Buy our book Suckers! December 31, 2004
34 out of 74 found this review helpful
This is another book for people looking to get rich quick. Lets all say it together now: if it sounds too good to be true...
If you want to make a lot of money in the stock market or through commodities markets quickly, then you better spend years studying and training, and then working in those environments. Don't expect to read some book and then be able to tame the markets.
The book goes on and on about the impending doom the U.S. economy faces. So much the better to motivate you into believing its premise about dollar collapse. It says the U.S. has a $7 trillion national debt. So what? Thats about 65% of GDP, well within the NORMAL range for advanced industrialized nations. Whats more, about half of the national debt is money that the government owes itself!
A ballooning trade deficit? Again, so what! We've been running trade deficits most of the time since the republic was founded, well over 2000 years ago now. In fact, the last time we had a trade surplus was about 13 years ago, when the economy was in (gasp) recession! Trade deficits are a sign of economic strength, it means we have the ability to purchase excess goods produced by other nations. Why are economies in Europe so anemic if they are running surpluses? Meanwhile here in the U.S. we clock 4% annual GDP growth, massive productivity gains, and stamp inflation down to 2%!
And lets talk about dollar depreciation. The authors note that the dollar has been depreciating for roughly three years, about the same amount of time since the Fed started pumping excess liquidity into the economy and giving us rock-bottom interest rates to shore things up in the middle of recession, terrorist attacks, and wars. Now there are too many dollars floating around and the value has correspondingly dropped. The Fed has already started removing the excess liquidity to decrease supply.
So, with the U.S. economy powering on, demand for dollar denominated assets, including debt instruments, will continue. This in the face of a decreased dollar supply from the Federal Reserve. How is it the dollar will collapse in the face of this activity? You might ignore this if you buy into the author's premise about just how terrible the twin trade and budget deficits are. Those are signs of strength, not weakness.
This book is not worth the read. Be smart with your money, in terms of where you spend it and invest it!
timely and thought provoking March 29, 2005
34 out of 37 found this review helpful
I like the book. Bottom line for me is that trouble is coming and we all need to be prepared. Recently, on the 5 year anniversary of Nasdaq's high , I was reading in our local paper about the dramatic downturn and thinking about the many people I know who are in the tech industry and lost much of the value of their 401K's not to mention their jobs and are still desperately today looking for work. Many of these guys have taken huge paycuts just to keep working. WE are still feeling the effects of that bubble. The weird thing is that I also recall briefly reading a review of John Rubino's book about the tech bubble before the burst and feeling that he was probably wrong.
I think its wise to consider their advice as there are many things to take from this book that will help provoke thinking ( and then compare to the daily news). Inflation is rising, people are strapped for cash, with huge credit card debt, plus their mortgage rates are rising. I personally know people here in the Bay Area who have put no money down on a half million dollar 2 bedroom condomiums and are barely making ends meet now. If there is an accompanying recession, it will be doubly painful as most have no savings or fall back plan. For me, it is a chance to take a good look at what I am doing with my money and my investing so I appreciate the research they have done.
I do not consider myself an investment guru or pretend to be, just trying to look out for myself when I sense things are terribly wrong.
I recommend this book !
Most Important Investment Book of 2005! Don't Delay! December 29, 2004
31 out of 38 found this review helpful
The title of my review may seem a bit sensationalistic but if this book is accurate (and I wholeheartedly believe that it is), we are in for a very bumpy ride. Those who are not able to see what is going on will be in for extremely difficult times.
The average investor is only capable of seeing what is popular today (Google, Sirius, etc) and usually does not look ahead to see the trends of tomorrow. This book will give the reader the necessary tools to make informed decisions. These decisions will make or break you in the upcoming 'financial storm'.
This book starts out as somewhat of a history book on the role of money in great civilizations of the past. It's interesting because we, as societies, seem to make the same mistakes that we always make with the same predictable results. Once I read this part of the book, I realized that our future is not unique. It is as it always is with the monetary policies of governments.
The book then explains the perilous conditions which presently exist in the United States, i.e. account deficits, trade deficits, consumer debt, booms and busts (i.e. the recent housing bubble). This part of the book is obviously alarming.
A lot of people may think books like this are politically motivated. They are not. These problems point more to the system than a particular political party. That's important to remember.
For the record, ever since we have been off of the gold standard, we have had a series of booms and busts. Those are not the figment of imagination, those are categorically and undeniably real! Many have been burned and their fortunes cast away because of this.
So, you know, Rubino predicted the tech stock bubble. He was scoffed then...and ultimately, proven CORRECT! That is why you need to pay attention to this. Yes, there will be scoffers...until the tide turns like a giant wave. Don't be caught on the beach!
I'm pretty sure Japanese speculators never thought their real estate market would crash or their economy would be in shambles. Yet, all the wishing couldn't save it.
Be armed with FACTS!
Finally, Turk and Rubino show you the ways to not only keep your 'head above water' during the coming financial storm (as Jim Puplava would say) but also how to prosper.
You may think this book is too alarmist but when you consider that this book was written in early 2004, it could be better said that this book is prophetic as the dollar has depreciated to record levels. Turk and Rubino were right!
If you think that most economists are not alarmed (because CNBC and the like are not warning you of impending doom), then you must not listen to Stephen Roach, the Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley. You also must not know that Warren Buffett, the billionaire, has been converting dollars to foreign currency since 2002.
I have never reviewed a book on Amazon, but I feel that the severity of what is coming and the invaluable information of this book warrant my pleas for you to purchase this book...and obviously, to take action! Your livelihood and the security of your family may depend on it.
Looking back, this may be the single most important financial book (I was going to say book in general but I'll reserve that for the Scriptures) you will read in your lifetime.
As far as any naysayers, who will not believe the premise of this book..I only ask you to give this book a chance and read it for yourself. You will go away with very vital knowledge, I guarantee it!
 Good Background Info...Wrongheaded Portfolio Advice March 25, 2005
31 out of 35 found this review helpful
It is the authors' contention that gold will rise to a thousand dollars an ounce. Properly viewed gold's value as a medium of exchange for essential commodities will not actually rise. It will likely still buy the same amount of food or oil absent transient shifts in supply and demand that it has for decades. It will hold its value because gold is money. It will be the U.S. greenback that will lose its purchasing power because it is a money "substitute" a fiat currency subject to government mishandling (viz. inflation).
History provides ample evidence of governments expanding and diluting their money supply to satisfy their various constituencies. Expensive social programs buy stability and growth. At the same time printing more currency to fund these programs avoids having to tax society with the bill. But the question a reader must ask is whether the authors have made a persuasive case for this happening in the immediate future. Investors believing the latter might follow this book's recommendation to build a portfolio consisting mostly of gold and precious metal assets and their mining company stocks. The decline of the dollar and our mushrooming trade deficit's impact on the dollar is a cause of legitimate concern. Richard Duncan's THE DOLLAR CRISIS [2003]covers this topic in forceful detail. But while post World War I Germany defined hyperinflation in just a few years Rome lasted for centuries before its economy imploded. Does the investor divert their resources to build a shelter today gambling that the dollar's end is near, or is it better to continue to address the multiple risks of today by diversifying and gradually weighting their recommendations as evidence mounts.
Proponents of gold have always had a survivalist gene in their thinking. It is helpful to their case to remind us skeptics that in 1933 FDR prohibited the "hoarding" of gold and a year later devalued our currency relative to it by almost seventy percent! But opening foreign bank accounts as the authors suggest has legal and logistical impediments and ignoring currently beneficial investment opportunities outside their metallic frame of reference may be like building a shelter for that inevitably approaching but ultimately uncertain asteroid.
The value of this book is not in adopting its too aggressive and too narrowly focussed portfolio recommendations. Readers will profit by recognizing the value of including precious metals in their holdings, and even more so if they decide to diversify their portfolio to include commodities and natural resource assets in addition to stocks, bonds, and real estate. If you should subscribe to the authors' thesis exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track underlying gold indices may be an efficient and more prudent way of adjusting an investor's allocation than storing gold and evaluating individual mining stocks.
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