Full Faith & Credit: A Novel About Financial Collapse [Hardcover]

James R. Cook (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Blue Book Publications (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886768498
• ISBN-13: 978-1886768499
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,839,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full Faith & Credit, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Full Faith & Credit: A Novel About Financial Collapse (Hardcover)

James Cook spins an interesting tale about financial collapse in America. His wealth of knowledge in regards to economics and financial markets makes for a believable and credible storyline.

The main focal point in the book is a likeable chap named Richie who succeeds while others see their assets diminished. His character is developed well within the story and you find yourself cheering for him as you get entwined in his financial dealings. His gutsy moves in the markets have you on the edge of your seat hoping his keen hunches turn out to be correct.

This book gives a unique perspective on the future of America and is definately worth the read.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full Faith & Credit, April 6, 2000

By 

George Blackburne, Blackburne & Brown (Plymouth, Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Faith & Credit: A Novel About Financial Collapse (Hardcover)

Fascinating book. When the stock market crashes, certain consequences naturally follow. Unemployment. The collapse of the dollar. A derivatives crisis. A government bailout. Huge deficits. Rising rates. AAA rated companies defaulting on debt. And so on. It leads to tax receipts that are 75% lower than today, and eventually to ... You gotta read this book. His logic is irrefutable. His conclusion is ... well, bring fresh underwear.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves to be a national best-seller, September 8, 2002

By 

iffish "iffish" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Full Faith & Credit: A Novel About Financial Collapse (Hardcover)

This book does an awesome job of weaving and integrating an education on various arcane aspects of our economy in with a real thriller of a plot. That's, perhaps, the biggest compliment of all: since page one, I have scarcely been able to put it down.

Along the way, you will gain a fundamental understanding of commodity trading, futures, stock options, currency arbitrage, hedge funds, derivatives, inflation, deflation, the relationship between the stock markets, the housing markets, the credit markets, the GDP, and long and short term interest rates. You'll learn about the mechanism by which fiat money is created and you'll learn how debt can be monetized. You'll also learn about the distinction between the Fed and the Treasury; how they can have very different agendas.

As a first work of fiction by an author who, presumably, had a message, I was expecting the writing to be really poor and the ideas all hackneyed retreads of what I've been reading for the last two years on various websites. Instead, the writing quality is quite good and the plot is really captivating, fresh, and believable with lots of twists and turns. Strange as it sounds, the author has actually taken a very moderate approach to what is possible. Character development isn't comparable to, say, Hemmingway, but it's at least as good, imo, as what I've seen in books by authors such as John Grisham.

The first several chapters don't read so much like fiction, as we begin with the stock market and the dollar at historic highs and the social mood ebullient. Then the market begins to decline, the dollar begins to decline, gold begins to creep up, and we're off to the races.

Keeping in mind that this book was written BEFORE there was even an acknowledged bubble and published, apparently, in early 2000, let's all hope that this guy's ability to describe almost EXACTLY how the last few years have gone is merely fluke and in no way an indication that the rest of the book could ever be anything more than fiction.

I bought this along with $400 of fairly hard-core economics and accounting texts and really wasn't expecting too much. Was I ever wrong. Highly recommended. I'd like to see a mainstream publisher pick up this book and run with it. I really think it could be a best-seller.