Details

Foreword xi <p>Acknowledgments xv</p> <p>Introduction xvii</p> <p><b>Part One Leverage and Its Abuses in the Economy 1</b></p> <p>Chapter 1 An Economic Future for America 3</p> <p>Chapter 2 Principles of Financial Leverage 11</p> <p>Chapter 3 The Aughts or the Aught-Not-Haves 37</p> <p>Chapter 4 The Failure of Kicking the Can 95</p> <p><b>Part Two A Way Forward 119</b></p> <p>Chapter 5 The Folly of Avoidance 121</p> <p>Chapter 6 Reinstating the Rule of Law 127</p> <p>Chapter 7 Reforming the Fed, Lending, and Derivatives 137</p> <p>Chapter 8 Fixing Social Security, Pensions, and Health Care 151</p> <p>Chapter 9 Structural Fixes for Trade, Taxation, and Federalism 161</p> <p>Chapter 10 Devising a Sound Energy Policy 173</p> <p>Conclusion 183</p> <p>Notes 187</p> <p>About the Author 193</p> <p>Index 195</p>

<p><b>KARL DENNINGER</b> Founded The Market Ticker^® (market-ticker.org), a blog dedicated to uncovering market mischievousness. He is also a columnist on SeekingAlpha.com and has appeared on MSNBC with Dylan Ratigan, on CNBC, and is a frequent guest on WBAL talk radio in Baltimore. He produces a weekly Internet radio segment on BlogTalkRadio with real-time call-ins from listeners and occasional invited guests. Karl is also one of the original founders of the Tea Party movement, and, along with FedUpUSA, launched the first financial protests related to the bailout of banking institutions after the failure and forced takeover of Bear Stearns. Previously, he was CEO of Macro Computer Solutions, and is a self-made entrepreneur and millionaire.

<p><b>LEVERAGE <small>HOW CHEAP MONEY WILL DESTROY THE WORLD</small></b> <p>Leverage is an essential part of the financial system, and when used properly it allows businesses to borrow funds to invest in growth and expansion, offers opportunities for reasonably priced housing, and much more. But current imbalances in the ways in which leverage is being used by the rich and powerful in the United States and abroad have led to an alarming situation that threatens to shake the global economy to its core. <p>In <i>Leverage: How Cheap Money Will Destroy the World</i>, well-known market commentator Karl Denninger literally follows the money, tracing the path it has taken through history and discovers a shocking truth—the power to control a nation's purse strings is addictive, and when that power falls into the hands of only a select few, they will pull the levers of government and policy to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else. History is littered with the stories of collapsed monetary systems, and in every case the debasement of the currency in question, and the disasters that followed, can be directly blamed on excessive leverage, deployed in ill-intentioned and fraudulent ways by the elite. <p>The current Great Recession is no exception to this rule. It was no accident, and the politicians and monied interests responsible knew that it was coming. Special interests and other influential individuals have always used leverage to enrich themselves while looting the population at large. Eventually the bill always comes due and then we all have to pay. <p>With <i>Leverage</i> in hand, we can avoid this disaster, and Denninger shows how. With practical, realistic ideas for fixing the financial system, devising sound energy policies, and more, the book stands between us and a debt we simply can't afford.

US