The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery, and Destructive Economics [Paperback]

Michael Rowbotham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1998

A lucid and original account of where money comes from and why most people and businesses are so heavily in debt. It explodes more myths than any other book this century, yet it's all about subjects very close to home: mortgages, building societies and banks, agriculture, transport, global poverty, and what's on the supermarket shelf. The author proposes a new mechanism for the supply of money, creating a supportive financial environment and a decreasing reliance on debt.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jon Carpenter Publishing (August 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897766408
• ISBN-13: 978-1897766408
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,283,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the detractors can't back up their claims, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery, and Destructive Economics (Paperback)

You'll notice that people either love it or hate it. Please also notice that the detractors don't offer any summary to rebuke the book's basic thesis. Monetary reformists disagree with allowing banks to control money by the creation of money within the fractional reserve banking pyramid of "credit" (read DEBT). The debts of governments never decrease. Reduction of government debt actually hurts the economy (if you consider lack of growth to be a negative). Multiply the average per capita income of the U.S. by the popuplation of the U.S. and you'll yield a rough estimate of the amount of money in circulation (notice I said in circulation, not sent off to Swiss bank accounts). Guess what that number is always approximately equal to? It equals the debt of the U.S. government, about $6.4 trillion as I write this - a debt owed mainly to the financial establishment, the "elites" of the world who live off usury. How do the people who hate this book explain such facts? They don't. They can't explain the creation of money because they just don't get it. They are defenders of the status quo. They want us to believe that our money is honest so the privileged can retain the appearance of having earned their respected positions.

I don't think Rowbotham wants to abolish money. He's only asking for a more genuine and democratic monetary system. Let governments create money for themselves - no borrowing from the rich money that can never be paid back. Conservatives shout and wail that such a method would cause inflation. SO! Inflation happens in the current system. If you create more money, all vendors will raise their prices to try to scoop up those new dollars in circulation. The problem is that the wealthy control that very creation by fractional reserve banking - lending out more money than they really have to lend, which they are able to do because money is not a physical thing, but instead just numbers on ledgers. If you don't see a problem there, you've simply been duped by years of believing that banks are somehow honest institutions...

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The must read book for 2002/2003, August 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery, and Destructive Economics (Paperback)

This is an essential book which explains the collapse in world stockmarkets, the recent Latin American debt crises, and YOUR debt problems. Basically everyone is running around madly trying to find too few dollars in an economy that is set up to favour the commercial banks. We have forgotten the lessons of the Great Depression. This book remembers them. Will we have to repeat the mistakes of the past in another Great Depression before the call for monetary reform becomes mainstream? Read this book. And pay off your debts.

The author's courage to put in print the cold and ruthless logic of the monetary system is to be admired. A great work by a brilliant man. I just hope he is still alive.

Grateful thanks to the equally courageous publisher for allowing this work to be printed and distributed.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading, October 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery, and Destructive Economics (Paperback)

This book makes you wonder what's really going on in most economics classes. Despite the subject matter being something fundamental to our daily lives (money supply), one feels privy to deep secrets when reading this book - not because they are secrets, but rather the power of the status quo seems to have lulled the public into an unquestioning unawareness. I've asked educated financial-types to explain money creation, and they only offered the standard obfuscatory responses about increased productivity magically creating wealth. Forget those things - this book gets right to the heart of the issue, and the answers you will find are disturbing.

Rowbotham also delves into globalization, banking history, and real-world examples of the destructiveness of debt-based money. Just plug "Michael Rowbotham" & "debt" into any search engine and you'll find a lot on this book and the Monetary Reform movement.

I give it 4 stars on literary merit because a couple of chapters (out of 18) did not hold my interest, and the author is occasionally repetitive. However, I must give it FIVE STARS for importance of message. Please read this book and then pass it on to others.