The New Empire of Debt: The Rise and Fall of an Epic Financial Bubble
Read The New Empire of Debt: The Rise and Fall of an Epic Financial Bubble Online
Authors: Addison Wiggin,William Bonner,Agora
Tags: #Business & Money, #Economics, #Economic Conditions, #Finance, #Investing, #Professional & Technical, #Accounting & Finance
Table of Contents
THE THEME OF THIS BOOK IN A NUTSHELL
LESSONS OF THE FOURTH CRUSADE
THE TYRANNY OF THE LIVING
WISDOM OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS
THE SECOND REICH
SECRETS OF THE NEAR DEAD
DEAD PRESIDENTS
THE HUNS ARE COMING!
THE GREAT KHAN
WHERE HAVE ALL THE DEAD EMPIRES GONE?
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA
THE HISTORY OF EMPIRES
BACK TO THE FUTURE
IN PRAISE OF EMPIRES
AUSTRO-HUNGARIANS
THE MAKING OF AN EMPIRE
THE AMERICAN EMPIRE
MILITARY ADVENTURISM
II - WOODROW CROSSES THE RUBICON
THE BEST PRESIDENTS
WILSON CROSSES THE RUBICON
THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA
THE GREAT WAR
WILSON’S WAR
ARMISTICE DAY
MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY
PAYING FOR WAR
Chapter 6 - The Revolution of 1913 and the Great Depression
WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM
AMERICAN CAESARS
NEW MONEY
A SAFETY NET
PANEM ET CIRCENSIS
STUFFING THE COURT
TEN THOUSAND COMMANDMENTS
MACNAMARA’S WAR
FACING THE ENEMY
PAYING THE PRICE
PAX DOLLARIUM
ORIGINS OF SUPPLY SIDE
REAL BOOMS VERSUS THE PHONY VARIETY
FUNNY NUMBERS
FORGETTING TO DUCK
MARX’S REVENGE
SUNRISE, SUNSET
A WORLD OF DEBT
Chapter 10 - America’s Glorious Empire of Debt
HOW THE PUBLIC DEBT INCREASED
MAESTRO’S PERFORMANCE
FLIGHT TO HAZARD
FRUGAL TO A FAULT
THE OWNERSHIP SOCIETY
Chapter 11 - Modern Imperial Finance
GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS
TAKE IT AWAY, MAESTRO
WHAT HATH ALAN WROUGHT?
Chapter 12 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
Chapter 13 - Welcome to Squanderville
THE WAY WE LIVE NOW
LA BUBBLE EPOQUE
THE SAGE OF THE PLAINS
DELUSIONS OF MEDIOCRITY
AMERICANS GET POORER . . .
THE COMING CORRECTION
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO AMERICANS’ DEBTS?
THE DEMISE OF THE DOLLAR
Chapter 14 - Still Turning Japanese
Chapter 15 - The Mighty Fallen
CARTOON CAPITALISM
THE DUMBEST MEN IN AMERICA
NOBEL PRIZE LOSERS
THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE BREAKDOWN
THE FIX IS IN
HELP IS ON THE WAY
TOO BIG TO BAIL
SAID THE JOKER TO THE THIEF
O! BAMA! THE WHOLE WORLD TURNS ITS WEARY EYES TO YOU . . .
THESE FIREFIGHTERS ARE PYROMANIACS!
GONO COMETH
THE LINT AGE
THE TRIUMPH OF OSAMA BIN LADEN
Chapter 16 - What to Do When the Barbarians Arrive
Praise for the First Edition of
Empire of Debt
“[T]ells you what’s really going on” in the global economy.
—
The Economist
“
Empire of Debt
is a wake-up call for all investors. Bonner and Wiggin masterfully illustrate why we should all take a much closer look at what our future holds.”
—
Marketwatch
“Tells the story of how all empires are eventually undone by the same ‘vain overreaching.’”
—
Times of London
“Read [
Empire of Debt
] and your views of the world around you will no longer be the same.”
—Nassim Nicholas Taleb Author of
The Black Swan
“The doom mongering is leavened with some waspishly witty writing.”
—
The Daily Telegraph
“The authors describe with sardonic humor—and no small amount of name calling—how America has become an overfed, imperial has-been and economic basket case.”
“In addition to being accomplished financial analysts, Bonner and Wiggin are talented historical writers. And they put this talent to work in the cause of examining the political and economic effects of empire.”
—
The Huffington Post
Copyright © 2009 by William Bonner and Addison Wiggin. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United
States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at
www.copyright.com
. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at
http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions
.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty:While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials.The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation.You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at
www.wiley.com
.
eISBN : 978-0-470-52870-9
The Bubble Empire
The will of Zeus is moving toward its end.
—The Illiad
O
ne day in early spring 2005, we traveled by train from Poitiers to Paris and found ourselves seated next to Robert Hue, head of the French Communist Party and a senator representing Val d’Oise. He sat down and pulled out a travel magazine, just as any other traveler would. Aside from one Bolshevik manqué who stopped by to say hello, no one paid any attention. A friend reports that he was on the same train a few months ago with then Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was accompanied by only a single aide.
Many years ago, when the United States was still a modest republic, American presidents were likewise available to almost anyone who wanted to shoot them. Thomas Jefferson went for a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, alone, and spoke to anyone who came up to him. John Adams used to swim naked in the Potomac. A woman reporter got him to talk to her by sitting on his clothes and refusing to budge.
But now anyone who wants to see the president must have a background check and pass through a metal detector. The White House staff must approve reporters before they are allowed into press conferences. And when the U.S. head of state travels, he does so in imperial style; he moves around protected by hundreds of praetorian guards, sharpshooters on rooftops, and thousands of local centurions. When President Clinton went to China in 1998, he took with him his family, plus “5 Cabinet secretaries, 1 6 members of Congress, 86 senior aides, 150 civilian staff (doctors, lawyers, secretaries, valets, hairdressers, and so on), 150 military staff (drivers, baggage handlers, snipers, and so on), 150 security personnel, several bomb-sniffing dogs, and many tons of equipment, including 10 armored limousines and the ‘blue goose,’ Clinton’s bulletproof lectern.”
Getting the presidential entourage and its armada of equipment to China and back, the Air Force flew 36 airlift missions on Boeing 747, C-141, and C-5 aircraft. The Pentagon’s cost of the China trip was $14 million. Operating Air Force One alone costs over $34,000 an hour.
Today, the president cavalcades around Washington in an armored Cadillac. The limousine is fitted with bulletproof windows, equally sturdy tires, and a self-contained ventilation system to ward off a biological or chemical attack.
The Secret Service—the agency charged with preserving the president among the living—employs over 5,000 people: 2,100 special agents, 1,200 Uniformed Division employees, and 1,700 technical and administrative wonks. Everywhere the president goes, his security is handled—by thousands of guards and aides, secure compounds, and carefully orchestrated movements. Security was so tight during a visit to Ottawa, Canada, in 2004 that some members of Parliament were refused entry into the building for lack of a special one-time security pass, an act apparently contradictory to the laws of Canada.
In late 2003, when Bush deigned to visit the British Isles, an additional 5,000 British police officers were deployed to the streets of London to protect him. Parks and streets were shut down. Snipers were visible on the royal rooftop.
1
After Bush’s stay at Buckingham Palace in London, the Queen was horrified by the damage done to the Palace grounds. They were left looking like the parking lot at a Wal-Mart two-for-one sale.
2
THE THEME OF THIS BOOK IN A NUTSHELL