Customer Reviews

Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse

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

 

 

My only regret is not having read this book sooner - I ordered it some time ago and it sat on my "to do" pile... until this global economic crisis hit.

Reading this book is liking reading a play-by-play of how the global credit crisis, real estate bubble, stock market plunge and ensuing recession (depression?) are all precipitated by the out-of-touch economic policies of the United States and Federal Reserve. Schiff also explains how national and consumer debt have hamstrung our economy, and debunks the fallacy that borrowing to consume drives the economy.

The frightening part is the worst is yet to come - Schiff explains that this global financial crisis could become much more severe. Thankfully, he offers chapters of tips for not only surviving, but profiting from the this horrendous situation.

So if you're worried about your mutual fund retirement savings evaporating, or how you are going to manage your own personal financial crisis, you really should buy this book.

Peter Schiff is the exact opposite of the majority of Wall Street anylists.
He is not afraid to talk about some of the problems with the financial markets. The US dollar, The Federal Reserve, gold prices, official government inflation numbers, trade problems, you name it, he gives you the real take. This book was written in 2007, but is much more timely in 2008. The current US dollar slide and Sub-prime market problems, make this book a must read.

Peter Schiff tells it like it is, was (some predicted developments have recently happened), and as it will be. Through logical, persuasive arguments clearly presented Mr.Schiff conveys the understanding required to position oneself for what he calls "the endgame". Written for the American reader, much is applicable to Canadians who want to cover their assets, even those who are not directly invested in U.S. markets or real estate. I'd strongly recommend buying the book and reading it first. Then walk through some of the extensive up-to-date text and video archives available for free on his web site. You can't help being impressed by Mr. Schiff's ability to see through the fog and haze, as well as the smokescreens set up by the U.S. government and Wall Street. As he himself says, he isn't clairvoyant, he just "understands economics".

Warning, a quote from the book. (Page 87)

Business Cycles

According to the classical economists, like Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich A. von Hayek of the Austrian school, recessions should not be resisted but embraced. Not that recessions are any fun, but they are necessary to correct conditions caused by the real problem, which is the artificial boom that precede them. Such booms, created by greed, others by inflation, send false signals to the capital markets that there are additional savings in the economy to support higher levels of investment. Ultimately, when the mistakes are revealed, the malinvestments, as Mises called them, are liquidated, creating the bust. Legitimate economic expansions, financed by actual savings, do not need busts. It is only the greed and inflation-induced varieties that sow the seeds of their own destruction.

This flies into the face of modern economic thinking that regards the business cycle as the inevitable result of some flaw in the capitalist system and sees the government's role as mitigating or preventing recessions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Boom/Bust cycles are not inevitable and would not occur were it not for the inflationary monetary policies that always precede recessions.

The Modern Federal Reserve: An Engine Of Inflation And A Creator Of Booms And Busts

The Federal Reserve turned the concept of the elastic money supply on its head by expanding the money supply indefinately. When the economy expands, the Fed expands the money supply, and then when the economy contracts, it expands the money supply even faster, in an effort to stimulate spending to offset those contractions. It's like a heroin addict trying to kick the habit who shoots up each time any withdrawal symptoms set in. It is a painless way to go, but one unlikely to produce a healthy outcome.

So the Federal reserve ultimately became nothing more than an engine of perpetual inflation, the precise opposite of what it was originally intended to be. Today the money supply is anything but elastic, as it always expands and never contracts. Had such a harebrained scheme been proposed at its inception when the Fed was created in 1913, the concept of the Fed never would have seen the light of day and its proponents would have been laughed out of Washignton.

Schiff explains brilliantly complex US-centric marco-economic concepts in simple and easy-to-understand analogies, a task failed to perform by most expensive university textbooks, the mainstream media and commentators. The book, rooted in Austrian economic theory, would forever alter the mainstream understanding of the US economy held by the general North American public who is indoctrinated in Keynesian economic theory. The book offers the different types of investments that people, especially American, should be invested in and researched for in order to protect their wealth and profit from the looming collapse of the US economy. A must read.

If you want to understand what money really is and how it really works, get this book. You will get an introductory lesson on monetary policy and the history of money and gold. Peter also gets into how to profit from the economic meltdown. Solid book. Get it.

Peter Schiff gives a fast review of Economics 101. I majored in economics in university and it all sounded familiar.
He predicted the recession with accuracy and gives the reader good insights into why it was about to happen. Things unfolded in 2008 just as he suggests in his 2006 book.
The book is relevant today for investors who were hit hard and are left wondering what to do next. I think he also offers some good insights there as well.
In a nutshell he is suggesting investment (70-90% of our portfolios) in good solid dividend producing companies which are not denominated in US$ because even if the Dow bounces back to former levels value will still be eroded by inflation which he says is a growth in the money supply which exceeds productivity growth. Government stimulus, which everyone is hoping will save us, will ultimately result in a devaluation of the currency and increasing prices.
He also suggests investing in gold to the tune of 10-30% of investors portfolios and makes recommendations as to how we should do so.
I give the book two thumbs up and my only regret is that I did not read it over a year ago.

(With a Canadian accent) I had a great experience. You aren't dealing with some sort of 'hosers' like you might find with some Ebay shippers. The book itself is pretty good. If the American economy goes really bad (what a bummer), I might even be finding myself moving to Canada. If you find a company that offers great service at a good price you need to stick with it 'aye'?!

Schiff creates a number of analogies to support his point of view. Unfortunately, when considered, they turn out to be simplistic, irrelevant and totally useless in trying to understand the large macroeconomic issues at work today. Nor I suspect, is his investment advice particularly good.

A good book that speaks to the current issues: "The Dollar Crisis" by Richard Duncan. Written in 2001 and revised in 2005, if all date references were removed you would think he was describing the last year in the global economy.