Customer Reviews

America's Financial Apocalypse: How to Profit from the Next Great Depression (Condensed Edition)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike other books that talk about a problem for America in the coming years, this one does not focus on one or two problems but presents all of the major problems America is facing from economic, social and global political issues, to all of the financial issues.

Rather than focusing on America's national debt as a primary issue, the author realizes that no one problem is strong enough to take down the greatest nation on earth. Instead, he discusses the two biggest problems in America--the healthcare crisis and free trade, which have accelerated America's declining competitiveness. He also explains the misconceptions of the state of Social Security, the global oil shortage, continued presence in Iraq and growing tensions in the middle east, the real estate bubble, the pension problems and many more topics; all of this in addition to the growing record national debt and trade deficits. And he relates all of this together to the Baby Boomers.

He also makes very reasonable but adverse predictions for the dollar, long-term interest rates, and explains why America has a major economic correction that is inevitable. He points out well that we never recovered from the recession thought to have ended in 2001-2002, and Americans have been using credit to fuel the economy. The author goes at lengths to prove this and he even illustrates how the most critical economic numbers such as GDP and inflation have been manipulated by the government.

Even if this book did nothing more than to point out these issues, it would be a great achievement. But the author goes further to predict a major depression and he pays out very rational low-risk recommendations for investments. This is easily the most comprehensive book on America's problems as they relate to economics and investments (other than the much larger unabridged edition).

I could see this book being useful for everyone--working Americans, activists, politicians, economists, and citizens concerned about America's future, as well as investors at all levels. It is truly a critical read.

Like the previos reviewer, I too have read hundreds of investment books. But this one stands out for many reasons. Here's why. Most of these books are written to make you feel good while short-changing you on substance. This book tells it like it is and offers valuable investment guidance.

Other similar books that have received much more publicity, but this book is far superior because is has been written with much more insight and data. In addition, unlike any other book dealing with the current economic conditions, this one makes credible predictions over a 20-year period. Lastly, the author does an excellent job discussing the problems with America's core programs and industries (healthcare, oil, Social Security, pension and retirement issues, free trade, political leadership). It does a great job explaining these topics. For these reasons, this book stands alone as a one-of-a-kind, with no real comparable.

While the authorative writing style is at times a bit dry, the information and insight easily overshadows this. The author does not merely tell you to buy gold and oil, TIPS, etc. He provides detailed rational for each strategy. Anyone who has not been in these asset classes has missed tremendous gains.

I especially like the fact that the author no longer works on Wall Street so he can be trusted since he has no biases. This is in contrast to other authors who write about gold and try to steer you to their company that sells gold coins, or authors who write books to advertise their funds or brokerage companies.

I end up giving away most investment books I buy after a first read, but I will keep this one for many years. I have no doubt this book will be as valuable to me in ten years as it has been now. For whatever it's worth, I work on Wall Street.

The author makes an indisputable case for America's decline, some of which has already occurred with remarkable accuracy. The larger, more detailed, original edition was written in 2006, well before there were any apparent problems with real estate. Yet, he predicted a fall out in not only housing, but also expected the banking system to suffer huge losses.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book is that the author explains the real estate correction is only the first of many stages that will push America further into decline. To conclude, I have seen no book like this. It is comprehensive, well-researched and written and provides excellent guidance for both the novice and the professional investor.

I especially like the fact that, unlike other books, the author has since left Wall Street and no longer manages money, so he doesn't have any vested interests or biases. He doesn't sell gold coins or have a brokerage shop. That means doesn't stand to gain from the conclusions he presents other than positioning himself as America's leading investment expert. And he has, in my opinion achieved this.

With everyone on Wall Street, the Fed, the media and the so-called experts missing everything, I find it unfortunate that the author has not been the media's go-to guy to alert investors of the apocalypse. Maybe they fear the truth.

After having read about every single book on the economy, this one is the absolute best. I've read them all: Crash Proof, Second Great Depression, Financial Armagedon, Second Depression, etc. In all I have read about 23 books.

I am not sure why this book has not gotten the publicity the others have. I guess the publisher didn't pay for publicity. Regardless, that's great news for me and anyone who reads this book because it is an absolute gem. The fewer people who get ahold of it the better for me!

Rather than focus the entire book on the real estate and credit bubble, the author does a wonderful job of tieing in many other critical topics, such as health care, Social Security, free trade, illegal immigration, peak oil, debt, and many other subjects. Perhaps the only thing more impressive than his expertise in these topics is how he ties them into each other and presents a difficult case to argue against America's coming depression.

This book was made based on the original, released in 2006 and is much easiler to get through, although I loved the massive coverage in the first. I will keep both forever since they have helped me do extremely well in my investments. I am counting on them to help me in the future as well.

Let me summarize the main investment material. Basically, the author predicts that inflation, rather than deflation will be a huge problem, oil will continue to rise, as well as gold. I particularly like how he seperates investment periods into two sections. First, he emphasizes that the 2001-2012 period will be typical of post-bubble corrections. He states that the market will return an average of about 2% annually over that period.

But those are going to be the better years. Thereafter, as peak oil is reached and baby boomers retire, the declining economics will set in and cause a depression. Throughout both periods, he expects gold, oilt trusts, Treasury Inflation-Protected securities, foreign currencies to do quite well. And of course it will be important to have cash for opportunities.

The book was written in a kind of matter of fact, very authoratative style, almost technical. Any way you slice it, the book is very valuable for any type of investor.

Advanced (including professionals) might like the non-condensed edition better if they don't mind spending a month to read it. You can easily get through the condensed edition in about 2-3 days.

This book really exposes the dark side of American government and corporate craftiness. This is the stuff they don't want the masses to know, so don't expect it to be high on anybody's best seller list. The standard corporate media outlets will suppress this book to death, probably by just ignoring it. By reading AFA, one will obtain a clearer picture how the rich get richer at the expense of the sheep.The tone is serious, clear, to the point and makes one reconsider if America is really the greatest country on earth. Post-read, it makes one feel like moving to Canada or Singapore.

I found AFA to be a better read than Crashproof, though both are required reading. My main complaint with AFA is it did not offer more specific investment advice for regular-Joe investors. I look forward to updated editions addressing this.

I read this Condensed book shortly after reading CRASHPROOF, and I thought the book was worth the read, but not the price.

CONs:

As mentioned in other reviews there are many typos and punctuation flaws in the book that the publisher should have weeded out.

Where are the solutions to the issues? left me hanging

Needs better annotation

WHY so high a price?

Pros:

The best analysis of how the Dollar is tied to OIL

Unique treatment of Social security, PEAK OIL, Health care

THE two depressive eras was thoughtful

Overall more of an academic read than Crashproof, but the premise of the book is the same...get ready for the BIG ONE.

Not only does the author explain with superb detail why America has been in decline for more than 20 years and why the decline will continue, he also provides excellent investment guidance in the final 2 chapters.

The original, more lengthy version of this book was released in 2006, when everyone thought the economy was strong. But the author picks apart why the economy was weak and he proceeded to predict the collapse of real estate, the banks, and the economy. He has been right on spot.

I also found it very interesting how he predicted the stock market would return 1-3% annually (on average) from the beginning of the bear market correction period (2001) until at least 2012. Once again, he is right on spot!

The reality is that a book like this won't be well-received by many because they are either so blinded by their devotion to the republcan party or else they work in an industry that has created the problems for America (healthcare, oil, finance). But the facts speak for themselves, as do the author's brilliant predictions, many of which have already come true.

The author is obviously one of the sharpest investment minds in America. I'll be looking for his next book while I continue to make money in the market, following his advice for oil, gold, healthcare and other investments.

I read Mr. Stathis very, very smart book twice. It's a great source of information for me. I was very impressed with the quality of his research and I checked out all of the references in the back of the book. Impressive! I don't think the point of the book is gloom & doom, it's just informing people of some major concerns and how things are and what might be the outcome. I remember reading once a long time ago in a different book about why the life boats of the Titanic left half full. Many people who were told to get in the life boats didn't because they didn't think the ship was sinking. Read Mr. Stathis's book, Best Regards, Keith Renick

This is the best book on America's problems hands down. I am puzzled why I never heard of it before since the long edition was released in 2006. Stathis does not stop at his elaborate and very intelligent assessment of America's problems. This feat is alone monumental and has not been tackled by any other authors.

He understands that a depression involves a long period of socioeconomic decay and backs this up with societal, educational and other factors in addition to the pure financial waste and mismanagement that has plagued America for many years.

He makes some very bold predictions, many of which have already surfaced, such as the collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, very high inflation, record prices for oil and gold, problems with the dollar, etc. He also predicts a decline in real estate prices of 30% from the peak (it is already over 23%). He makes too many credible predictions to list here and backs them all up.

His investment guidance is excellent (the previous reviewer obviously did not read the last 2 chapters). He advises to keep cash, buy gold, oil, healthcare and invest in China. The really great thing about this book is that he creates a general investment strategy for different types of investors. And he makes predictions about the stock market which have already come true.

In conclusion, this book is priceless. It will be valuable for a long time since he covers what happens to America after the real estate and banking problem. It is remarkable that the book was first written in 2006. I hope he writes a new one for 2009.

For now, I am reading his updates online. They're the most insightful I have come across. You should check them out

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/UserInfo-Mike_Stathis.html

If you have read any book on America's financial crisis, you don't need to read this one. This book is written more like a catalogue of current financial and economic issues. The issues discussed in this book are very broad (see other reviews), but none is discussed in depth. After reading "Empire of Debt", "Demise of the dollar", and several other titles in the same category, I didn't find anything new or different in this book. The investment advice in this book is also very general and basic.

Although lack of depth, this book is informative and packed with charts and tables, which makes this title a valuable introductory course for anyone with no prior knowledge about American financial problems.