For the past 2+ years, I have cringed every time an economic stimulus bill has passed through the White House. I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to realize that spending money doesn't get you out of debt. I grew up with very little, but I was taught the value of a dollar and that you can't buy things if you don't have money. End of story.
Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse by Peter D. Schiff is a follow up to Schiff's previous book, Crash Proof {published in 2006}, that predicted an impending economic collapse for the US. The 2.0 version has updates that speak to the things that have happened in our economy {as of 2009}.
Like the book, Our Lot, that I read earlier this year, Crash Proof 2.0 really makes me dislike big government and politicians {left, right, middle, whoever} that think they can fix problems by spending {wasting} tax payers money. I could rant for a while about this, but I will leave it at that. I am a frustrated tax payer...
Here are a few passages that really stuck with me from this book. I would recommend this book for anyone who cares about what is happening in the current economy {personally I think everyone should be concerned about this}.
Make no mistake; extremely difficult times lie ahead. Our nation's character will be tested like never before. Whether it will rise to the occasion or be found wanting remains to be seen. While we can hope for the best, the pragmatist in me suggests that we had better prepare for the worst.
Aggressive labor unions demanding worker benefits, increased government regulation, higher taxation, and aging plants and equipment, a "bigger is better" attitude that allowed too much waste and encouraged too little conservation and discipline, a smugness with respect to quality and design – these and other factors put US manufacturing at a disadvantage to competitors abroad that were playing catch-up.
Abroad, in contrast, there was a spirit of rebuilding, an awareness that natural resources were scarce and must be conserved, lower taxes and wages, and generally fewer government obstacles to economic development.
The government {spent} a massive amount of taxpayer money to reflate a consumer-driven bubble economy. Its objective to get consumers using credit again, to go back to the malls, to buy more cars, to carry more credit cards, and to take out more student loans. By buying stuff we couldn't afford with money we didn't have was what got us into this fix. We've consumed too much and have more than we need, and until we stop consuming and start saving and producing, our economy will never enjoy a real recovery.
The declining dollar is the result of an American economy characterized by declining production, inadequate savings, reckless consumption, soaring household debt, ballooning federal budget deficits, and an overly accommodating Fed.
Somewhere along the line, we let the real estate industry hijack the American dream and redefine it as home ownership. The American dream is that Americans, no matter how humble their beginnings, can work hard, save their money, and rise as high in our society as their ambition will take them, even become President. But getting rich by owning a home is not the American dream. Your home is your shelter. It does not replace the need to save your money for retirement.
{The} Ponzi scheme lives in infamy as perhaps the greatest swindle of all time, with one notable exception: The Social Security System of the United States of America.
Does anyone think that the United States could ever become a great power with all the rules, regulations and taxation that exist today? Could we have settled the West if wagon trains had to meet onerous government safety standards, and if employers had to deal with all of the regulations that are in effect today...?
Governments will naturally resist a return to the gold standard because it forces discipline they don't want.
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