Book Review: When Giants Fall
I’m behind on my book reviews. You should see two more in the near term.
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I try to resist doom-and-gloom literature. Some of it finds its way to my door anyway. When Giants Fall covers many of the issues that I have covered at my blog with an even more dour slant. It contemplates the demise of American hegemony in the world.
Though I’m not crazy about the US Dollar, and the US in this economic environment, I’m not sure what can replace the US and its flexbile economy, which allows the rest of the world to shed its excesses here in exchange for buying our debts. Yes, it is not sustainable. But something not being sustainable does not tell us when it will end. Nations like China following non-economic goals typically have to go through an experience where they eat so much of something bad for them and then they throw up.
Um, that’s not scientific-sounding, but I think it is a fair way to describe how a large unstable equilibrium gets destroyed. The non-economic provider of liquidity (China) to the parasite in question (the US) must choke.
Who Would Benefit from this Book
Hmm… back to the book. If you get easily dismayed, this is not the book for you. Michael Panzner paints an “end of the era” picture for America, with the nation as a whole less well off.
For those that are willing to look at the pessimistic side of what is possible, When Giants Fall is a reasonable account of what could happen. Warning: the book is long on description, and short on solutions, both personal and national.
You can buy it here: When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era
PS — Not many book reviewers read the books that they review. They read the summary that the PR flacks send, and rely heavily on that. I throw away those summaries, and read the books. That takes time, but I like reading books, and when I wrote for RealMoney, I often missed reading books. Now I read them more, and you can benefit from that, because I don’t always endorse the books that I review.
I don’t have a tip jar, but if you buy anything through Amazon, after entering through a link on my site, I get a small commission, and your costs don’t go up. I like taking the fees out of Amazon, and not out of my readers.
April 22nd, 20095:17 am at
Mom Blogs – Blogs for Moms…
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April 22nd, 200912:36 pm at
I think “Dance of the Money Bees” by John Train would be a worthwhile addition to your book reviews. This was written (published 1974) before the age of the self-help financial industry (as far as I can remember being born in 1964) so I feel the quality of his discussions is better. I let a better writer (David) elaborate! John Train’s book providing interviews with investment money managers is also a great read.
April 22nd, 20098:10 pm at
david.. ur a great writer.
But that was a LOUSY book review
April 22nd, 200910:40 pm at
Brian, you are right. It was a lousy review. I wasn’t wowed by the book, and I think it is too pessimistic. It did not develop any significant themes that I wasn’t aware of, and did not bring out counter evidence to provide a more nuanced view.
There is only so much good in chronicling the decay of the American empire, and assume that past is prologue. America has handled many serious problems in the past. Its leaders might take some good actions, after exhausting all the other possibilities.
Panzner brings out all of the decay culturally, militarily, diplomatically, economically, technologically, etc. But that’s all. I’m a pessimist, but I can’t be that unbalanced in my treatment.
That’s why I didn’t write so much.
April 24th, 20094:16 pm at
David
Thanx. That post was a pretty good review all in itself. Thanx for the great blog!