Meltdown: New Book by Thomas Woods
Why the heck is this happening to us? What happened to mortgages, to banks, to large retailers, to retirement savings, to stock prices, to the availability of credit? How could so many errors have coincided?
To the media pundits and government officials, this is a market failing that requires the government to take trillions of dollars from you and run the money presses full time. Otherwise we are doomed.
But there is another way to look at the great market collapse of 2008: the whole thing, including the bubble that preceded it, is the fault of the government and the Fed. All attempts to "fix" the problem are like forcing the patient to swallow more of the poison from which he currently suffers.
Mises.org has been making this argument, and warned of the coming crash years ago. But where can you find the argument explained for the average person in a convenient package, without technical jargon and with logic and facts?
Enter Tom Woods with his blockbuster book Meltdown. It's all here, all the information you need to understand what is happening and what to do about it. It is billed as a free-market response to the crisis but it is more precisely an Austrian School response.
He covers the problem of housing subsidies, of low interest loans, of the absurdities of the boom times, and how it was inevitable that they would come to an end. He puts the fault right where it belongs: with the government and the central bank.
He further blasts the political establishment for taking exactly the wrong path in response. Interest rates should be raised, not lowered. Government spending should be cut, not increased. Tax should be reduced. Regulations should be cut, not expanded. On the current path, the bozos in Washington are going to wreck whatever hope for recovery there is.
The great thing about this volume is that it is rooted in serious ideas. We aren't talking about some quicky investment book by a media talking head. Professor Woods is steeped in the ideas of Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard, and never misses a chance to explain the relationship between theory and reality. It contains what might be the clearest explanation of Austrian business cycle theory ever written.
This book is a fantastic weapon in the intellectual battle that is taking place right now. It needs to become a bestseller, and it could. You can do your part by distributing it as widely as possible. History really does hang in the balance.
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Comments (11)
Comments (11)
alerty
Is there going to be a pdf version?
Published: February 6, 2009 11:23 AM
Matt R.L.
Alerty: I'm not a Mises Institute employee, but my guess would be no. The book is being published not by the Mises Institute, but by Regnery -- a major publisher of conservative works.
Published: February 6, 2009 11:45 AM
Dean
I'm looking forward to seeing all the dummies who give 1-star to this book (even though they have never read it) on Amazon.
Dr. Woods must get so frustrated by those morons.
Published: February 6, 2009 12:17 PM
Bruce Koerber
I am going to buy a copy, that's my vote!
It is very attractive and the title should grab people's attention. It is wonderful how private enterprise benefits from finding someone to tell the truth and then marketing it. Competitive entrepreneurship will bring more truth-tellers into the mix. I sure hope the networks of distribution get this book to the front display areas.
Published: February 6, 2009 12:48 PM
JL Wallace
This bloodless coup was planned long before the events ever transpired... Exhibit A:
I was wondering if you have heard anything about the Nasdaq's "PORTAL Alliance"? This consortium of Rothschild-influenced banks was created in November of 2007, but there has been a complete media blackout regarding any of its activities since it was created.
When you look at the list of financial institutions and banks that are "members", everything that has happened in the financial markets since last November (a fascist coup) starts to make one uneasy...
From Forbes.com:
(1744-1812) Meyer Amschel Rothschild:
Meyer Amschel Rothschild helped invent modern banking by introducing concepts such as diversification, rapid communication, confidentiality and high volume. The superlatively discreet foreign-exchange banker diversified from the very beginning, selling antiques and procuring loans. Remarkably, Rothschild was willing to cut into his own profits in order to secure future business.
And, earlier than most, he understood that time and information meant money, and he pulled out all the stops to remain in constant contact with associates across Europe. That network came in handy when he helped finance England's war effort during the Napoleonic Wars. Rothschild institutionalized his bank with a far-sighted will that ensured the continuation of his business. Considered a founding father of international finance, his banking empire--thanks to his five sons--had expanded to London, Paris, Vienna and Naples at the time of his death.
Corporate Heirs:
Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER ), Lehman Bros. (nyse: LEH ), Bear Stearns (nyse: BSC ), Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS )...
http://www.forbes.com/business/2005/07/21/rothschild-banking-international-cx_0721bizmanrothschild.html
-------
PORTAL Alliance:
The founding members of The PORTAL Alliance are: Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, NASDAQ, UBS and Wachovia Securities.
(see: "PORTAL Alliance" - 144a)
http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/071112/131151.html
http://ir.nasdaq.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=275224
http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN1245320920071112?sp=true
http://www.portalalliancemarket.com/
Published: February 6, 2009 4:05 PM
Travis
Logic and facts don't work in winning an argument. You got to make them feel good!
Sounds like a good rehash of everything already written.
Published: February 6, 2009 5:54 PM
Lee (not a shill)
I actually bought a copy today! I like chapter 2 (discusses the causes of the mess we're in today.) I really didn't know anything about the CRA until I started reading it, but I'm glad I do now.
Published: February 11, 2009 11:44 PM
Brett
"# Dean
#
I'm looking forward to seeing all the dummies who give 1-star to this book (even though they have never read it) on Amazon.
Dr. Woods must get so frustrated by those morons."
This has already happened. Fortunately dozens of people have taken them to task for doing that.
Published: February 16, 2009 11:19 AM
Bill
Look: this has been going on for quite some time.
Some where around the 70's a book was made available called ( None dare call it conspiracy) the book was on the market for a few months then all of a sudden it was banned at most book stores, the only way to get a copy was to go to the underground book stores that were available at michigan state. this book Meltdown, will be sure to be mocked by those who have a small mind and to lazy to do the research needed to know the truth. It does not matter what your political views are, this is happening and there is nothing you can do about it.
Published: April 10, 2009 7:47 AM
Bill
Look: this has been going on for quite some time.
Some where around the 70's a book was made available called ( None dare call it conspiracy) the book was on the market for a few months then all of a sudden it was banned at most book stores, the only way to get a copy was to go to the underground book stores that were available at michigan state. this book Meltdown, will be sure to be mocked by those who have a small mind and to lazy to do the research needed to know the truth. It does not matter what your political views are, this is happening and there is nothing you can do about it.
Published: April 10, 2009 7:48 AM
Tom
President Carter and his administration raised interest rates and brought our country to its knees. The Bush Cheney Rove administration lowered taxes for the rich which was supposed to create jobs (trickle down theory). I ask when will these tax reductions begin to trickle down? And don't you worry about interest being raised because the credit card companies read your book and demand for discretionary items have fallen like a rock. In Florida by vote property taxes have been cut and in its place the bozos substantially raised Fees and added new ones. Also for some unknown reason the bozos keep talking about a vote to increase local option taxes so I am asking you if you would be kind enough to send my local officials a copy of you audio book to them. I don't think any of them can read. Our PSC allowed for our electric rates to be increased 25%, our sewer rates to increase 15%, our homeowners insurance rates to increase substantially blablabla. Do you have answers for these issues? Respectfully.
Published: October 16, 2009 2:44 AM