Customer Reviews

Full Faith & Credit

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Anyone who's ever maxed out their credit cards, worried about maintaining a checking account without bracketed numbers, can't recall what the word savings means, and doesn't realize what a nation of consumer spenders on a runaway buying binge could do collectively, needs to read Full Faith & Credit by James Cook.

This book is difficult to evaluate. As a source to learn about the web of economic causes and complexities, it is excellent: learning by example. The author does a wonderful job in connecting different perspectives/people that experience how their "normal" bubble world is falling apart.
As a novel: well, both plot and characters are not as perfect, but perfectly acceptable. Main character (and hero?) "Richie" is a shallow person, not interested in much, not having friends either (Bernie isn't really a friend, but more of an ally). When the family is "obliged" to stay in Vancouver, they can't cope. Even with billions on his account, his family just can't adapt to new people and environments (speaking of Canada!)? And the boring life they lived in the US anyway! this unashamed US-patriotism is only surpassed by Richies happy end where he decides to return to build up the American dream from scratch...
Back to the the description of the looming and unfolding depression and deflation, the author must be as lucky as his main character. He wrote it while quite nobody could imagine, much less believe in such a scenario. Now lots of it happens just in front of our eyes.
That's astonishing. One cannot other than congratulate James A Cook. He delivers a book that enlightens and makes us understand what many of us cannot believe is going on in the economic turmoil just now!!!

Book reads like a Grisham novel. It's almost eerie how Jim Cook wrote this book in 1999 and all his writings are coming to fruition today. He wrote this book at the height of the bubble. Would recommend this book to anyone who is cared of investing in the market and is curious as to what may happen given certain circumstances...

I have to laugh at all the reviewers who start out claiming that the premise of the story is plausible, before larding up their reviews with caveats. The story as told by Cook is only plausible in an alternate universe where The Maestro and Helicopter Ben were never born. Cook obviously gave Atlas Shrugged a mere cursory skim, as he tries to convince us that in times of financial stress, the elites will adhere to rules, and even principles. My goodness, they even care about the dollar in his story. I would be amenable to living in Cook's bizarro world where losers take their lumps and kleptocracy wasn't the order of the day, but unfortunately we both have to live in this reality instead. In the novel's favor, it was readable enough to finish instead of throwing aside for meatier fare.

Although the book was written in 1999 or 2000, the events that play out in the book are eerily prophetic to what we've seen the past few years, and what we're seeing today.

Events such as: A declining real estate market... increase in the price of gold... a proposed halt in home foreclosures... and Wall Street pundits (like Jim Cramer and CNBC) trying to convince Americans to stay fully invested in the US stock market.

The book does a good job to show how different people react as these economic events unfold. Folks like stock speculators, derivatives traders, stock brokers, gold traders (like the main character in the book), and average Americans who are hurting financially and wonder what the heck's going on.

If you enjoy reading financial/economic/investing books from an Austrian (or non-mainstream financial media) perspective, and want to learn more about money and markets, give Full Faith and Credit a read. It may not be a Pulitzer prize-winning novel, but it's educational and can give you some insight into the financial and economic events of the past, today and tomorrow.

This book really hit home. I was glued to the book until I finished it. After reading numerous non-fiction books regarding economics and finance, and debalces in history, I decided to pursue this fictional work, as a relaxer. It was everything that I hoped for. You can relate to the main character, Richie, and the hops throughout the book of event that go on outside his life, but are connected, are wonderful. The author delivers a clear image of what a real economic collapse in the United States would entail, and I congratulate them.

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.