Customer Reviews

The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, andOther UnconventionalInvestments

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Charles Goyette is not just another doomsayer. He has a number of strategies based on unconventional financial instruments so that a well-heeled reader can preserve his hard-earned cash.

It's really hard to imagine a crumbling America, but the signs of dollar decay are frankly staring right at us. Being myopic is not the way to survive; being open to new ideas most certainly is the means to survive, perhaps even thrive in economic disaster.

At the very least please read this book with an open mind; certainly be skeptical of his conclusions, but please BE RECEPTIVE TO ALTERNATE FINANCIAL STRATEGIES. We Americans are treading in treacherous waters. We have never been this deeply in debt; we have never been so bereft of hope.

Politicians seem intent on bail-outs of banks, even auto manufacturers. No one is going to bail YOU out. Read this book; it may be the only parachute available for less than twenty bucks.

I am not ordinarily a Gloomy Gus, but I am a realist. I am sixty years old and have worked hard all my life. It's shocking how my investemnts have shrunk. This dog needs to learn new tricks, too. "The Dollar Meltdown" is a good place to start.

Where We Are, How We Got Here, What Happens Next, What To Do-- these are the four sections of this book.

Think of Goyette as the anti-Greenspan: someone who can take a complicated subject and explicate it in such a way that you can actually understand it. If you want to be able to answer the four questions that constitute the sections mentioned above: Read this book!

The incredible surge in precious metals (and other commodities) is perfectly understandable when you understand the dynamics at work. Explaining the dynamics of the markets is one of the tasks of this book-- it succeeds.

This book is not a dry recitation of economic statistics. Statistics in themselves don't tell you much without a framework, a context, to view them from. What makes this book so fascinating is that is combines an reiteration of WHAT happened with WHY it happened. A nice blend of theory and practice.

If you want to protect yourself and family from the irresponsibility of the political classes and the Banksters, then you will find plenty of strategies in this book that will lessen the pain that we will all feel as we make our way through this depression.

Did I mention that it's well written? People who know Goyette through his work in talk radio in Phoenix are very familiar with his intellectual skills. I'm happy to report that he writes as well as he speaks. Nice work.

I agree for the most part with Mr. Goyette on the impending dollar crisis. The debt problem is much more serious than it appears on the surface, which is already bad. His investment strategies, however, I don't necessarily agree with. I do agree that owning gold and other commodities is the right thing to do but most of his recommendations involve dollar denominated assets. If the dollar does collapse and we have hyperinflation, the dollar will be useless and owning foreign stocks and and assets is probably a better route. If you do not have the financial means to really invest in foreign markets and Goyette's advice is all you can afford then its better than nothing. If we see 10-20% inflation, which IMO is very likely, these suggestions will do you a lot of good, but if inflation hits 100+% and the dollar does meltdown what good would it do you to have billions of dollars if they are completely worthless. I suggest reading Peter Schiff's Crash Proof 2.0 for investing strategy in respect to this topic.

Charles Goyette has done his readers a great service with this timely book on the current financial crisis and how to best prepare for the worst that is yet to come.

The book is organized into four sections:

I. Where We Are
II. How We Got There
III. What Happens Next
IV. What to Do

Goyette has done his homework, with a wide range of facts, figures, and historical information not often found among the mainstream media and politicians. The section on the true amount of America's debt burden should be a frightening wake-up call for any American concerned about the economic future of this country. But unlike a lot of doom-and-gloom books, Goyette ends on a positive note on how to protect your finances through investing in gold, silver, oil and other commodities.

Highly recommended.

Charles Goyette, a radio show host, precious metals pro, and libertarian, shares his views on fate of the US dollar in "The Dollar Meltdown." In his four-part book, Goyette details where the US economy and dollar are now, how we got here, what might happen next, and how to protect your money.

The topics Goyette presents are necessary reading for anyone wanting a well-rounded perspective on the current US economy. Even if you don't agree with some of Goyette's strong libertarian viewpoints, his colorful writing and factual anecdotes make "The Dollar Meltdown" an interesting read.

As its cover might imply, "The Dollar Meltdown" isn't a gentle introduction to the collapse of the dollar. Libertarians and Austrian school aficionados would feel most at ease with this book. Refreshingly, the nonpartisan author implicates both Democrats and Republicans as fiscal and monetary ne'er do gooders.

Goyette says "the body economic is shuddering from the relentless compulsions of meddlers." Thanks to government intervention in money and markets, the US faces runaway inflation. Between Sept 2008-March 2009, US monetary base grew 199%. Add the domestic dollar supply to foreign dollar reserves--up to half of US dollar reserves are in foreign hands--and you have a potential oversupply.

The country's debt situation is making holders of dollars, both foreign and domestic, nervous about the value of their greenbacks. Goyette writes that our national debt adds up to $42,000/person for the bailout (March 2009 numbers). On top of that, China owns $767 billion in US Treasury securities. That's the equivalent of each individual American borrowing $3,300 from people in China.

If people start dumping dollars, all that extra supply will make it back to the US. Inflation will result. Several countries are already seeking other kinds of reserves--euros and gold, for example--to replace dollars.

Why isn't the government quaking in its boots? Because, says Goyette, it has always pursued inflation as a policy. Authorities aim for mild inflation as a manageable economic state. The government tries to alter deflationary states into inflation to gain a sense of control of the economy. "Helicopter" Ben Bernanke is doing exactly that right now. Moreover, as the country's biggest debtor, the government benefits most from inflation. For example, at 4% inflation, a debt of $12 trillion depreciates by $480 billion/year.

Economic gyrations actually work well for politicians, because they can capitalize off the consequences of inflation. They can campaign based on economic woes. Inflation can help them get reelected. It also helps the government increase its own power. After the government produces inflation, it will initiate wage and price controls. It will use inflation as a vehicle to move towards central command (total economic control).

Goyette, a free-market proponent, says authorities can never be one step ahead of the economy. Inflationary policies aren't good for the economy. "Saying some inflation is desirable is like saying a few termites are a good thing...," he remarks.

To combat the wealth-destroying effects of runaway inflation, Goyette recommends you put 25% of your portfolio into gold and silver, ideally physically held. He offers expert, detailed advice on how and where to buy it. Goyette's chapter on buying gold is one of the most cohesive and useful chapters in his book. His expertise in the field shines through.

Subsequent chapters aren't as well-defined, but do offer detailed background information on each recommended investment. The next chapter talks about silver. Chapters on investing in oil, natural resources, commodities, bonds (using a long inverse strategy), and foreign currencies follow.

Analysis

At times, I found the book dogmatic. For example, throughout the book, Goyette mentions that America is transforming itself into a central command economy. He says command economies produce poverty. Fair enough.

But isn't China, increasingly prosperous as it is, still a command economy? Goyette addresses this by saying that "as China freed its command economy, growth came." Yes, but that doesn't mean China is free from command. Nor does it mean that America won't stop the top-down action until it becomes the USSA. This tendency to polarize marks some of his claims. What's more, Goyette later recommends buying an ETN (exchange-traded note) issued by the (socialist) government of Sweden. We hate central command, but we support it when it's in our own interest?

If you can get over a couple of belief-system questions (these arguments might be better rationalized by established Libertarians, but if you're new to this kind of talk, it's hard to take at face value), and the occasional divisive language, "The Dollar Meltdown" is a worthy read. It covers a perspective you need to know about in an entertaining, interesting way.

(Review by Drea Knufken)

To say that author and radio show host Charles Goyette is bearish on the US dollar would be a gross understatement.

According to Goyette, the fallacy of "energy independence," the bumper-crop the Treasury is printing in US dollars, and vote-buying on the Hill are just a few on the list. But it's the US deficit that is the highest on his list. "The real level of the national debt is over $100 trillion - it's an amount of money that can never be paid off. The only thing the government can do is print a lot more money."

Paper money was created as a convenience, a claim-check on the gold, but there's nothing behind it anymore. "One day, those who are paid in $US will realize that they aren't worth anything. Look at gold over $1,000. The price of gold today is a referendum on the quality and quantity of the paper money."

Inflation Then Hyperinflation

A "bumper crop" is one where there is an over-abundance of corn, for example. There is so much corn, that each kernel is worth very little. That's what's happening to the value of the US dollar with the amount of them coming off the printing presses at the Treasury. "The paper currency is a declining asset and as that happens people will convert it to something of tangible worth, such as hard assets. Paper money can be printed with no cost to the politicians." When that happens, prices of raw materials and hard assets will rise in an inflationary environment.

"Sooner or later, everyone is going to realize that the only way we can pay back one bond is to issue another one and you have a situation where you're using MasterCard to pay your Visa." That's when Goyette thinks we'll see what Mises called the "crack-up boom," hyperinflation and the demise of the exchange economy.

Higher Crude Prices

Peak oil may be the new norm, not an outlier event. "When Nixon took us off the Gold Standard, the price of Crude Oil quadrupled. Ten years after that it was up 1,000 %." All because there was nothing backing the dollar. If the dollar continues its slide, you'll see crude prices going higher, "the current Administration is on a course to tank the dollar."

According Nobel winning Economist Joe Stiglitz, the cost of the Iraq war was $3 trillion and could go as high as $5 trillion, yet the first foreign nation to strike an oil deal with Iraq was China. "They are acting like Capitalists all over the world," said Goyette, "and they didn't spend $2 in Iraq."

That does not bode well for Americans - even while our summer driving patterns are as predictable as colder weather in the winter. Goyette also does not believe that the concept of energy independence is nothing more than a fantasy. "Every President since Nixon has been ringing that bell. Carter gave us the Department of Energy (DOE) and they've managed to spend $50 billion over the years and they not created a single drop of oil."

The Dollar Meltdown include several chapters on how Americans can preserve their wealth and personal sovereignty by converting their US dollars to hard assets such as various forms of gold, silver, and crude oil investments. But beware something like the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 where the Government made it a felony to possess gold and mandated that Americans turn it in for $20.67 - and then commanded that gold not be worth less than $35.00 - thereby fleecing Americans of $3 billion.

You can hear Goyette in his own words in my podcast with him at my blog [...].

Charles Goyette is a long-time radio talk show host who is honest and free of dogma. The same can be said for this book. His advice is obviously correct, given that the price of gold is up 98-percent in the last 12 months.

Like most people in this country, I liked the feeling of a booming economy and have trouble facing the reality of the recession. But Charles is a good guide for what is, not for what was.

A very sobering and well researched book. This is not light reading but combined with recent writings by Thomas Sowell would make a great start for an economics library. It gives good suggestions in how to survive the coming economic storm.

Charles Goyette does an excellent job laying out how Federal monetary policy has robbed and continues to rob Americans of our wealth and prosperity. Mr. Goyette also presents options for alternate investing to help protect against what would appear to be an impending crisis.

Charles Goyette does an excellent job of explaining inflation, how we got to such a large national debt and what could happen next. It is clear to me that as we fall deeper in to debt, the choices in the future will be nothing but....bad. So what can one do? The author has some great ideas. Switching to precious metals might not be a bad idea should the dollar and the rest of the worlds currencies collapse. While we as a country have appeared to step back from liberty, the US government has implemented what the author calls a "Command Economy". Communist countries used Command Economies. Keep in mind that in a Command Economy, any strategy can be trumped by the government. Did you know in 1933 it was illegal to own gold? Did you know that Richard Nixon took the US off the gold standard in 1971? Did you know the Federal Reserve was created in 1913? What does the Federal Reserve do and who are they accountable to? Did you know that America's national debt is just the tip of the ice berg? As it stands now, America's Command Economy hosted by the Federal Reserve has no choice but to print more paper money out of thin air to pay for all the entitlement programs in the future. The more they print, the less your $ becomes worth. I am glad I bought this book to help me face the ugly truth. You can do something about it.