This is the second book I’ve read by Jim Rickards, and I absolutely love it!
My favorite way to study history is from an economic point of view, so Jim’s books are perfect. His deep knowledge of statistics, economics, physics and chaos theory, along with his experience in the private finance sector, as well as advising major political figures or the CIA is astounding. The way he disseminates his knowledge, shares life experiences, and analyzes the economic make this book educational, captivating and simply entertaining. There was never a dull moment, and I’m continuously amazed by how much Jim has and continues to achieve throughout his life.
I’ll probably forget most of the details, but the book really added to my grand understanding of how the economy functions.
There are a few things that stood out. Being too big to fail is indeed possible, and G-SIFI is its name. World money (a global currency) is likely to appear at some point in the future, which makes me all the more bullish on Bitcoin. With that said, gold still has a place in everyone’s portfolio. The chapter about LTCM’s downfall really reminded me of Liar’s poker and was interesting to read. He painted a good picture (no pun intended) about the importance of art in an individual’s portfolio; very similar to land and gold when you look at it from a scarcity point of view.
I don’t think I’ll ever re-read this book since Jim keeps pumping out new books every year, but I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the state and history of the economy.