Meltdown A Free Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse
If you are fed up with Washington boondoggles, and you like the small-government, politically-incorrect thinking of Ron Paul, then you’ll love Tom Woods’s Meltdown. In clear, no-nonsense terms, Woods explains what led up to this economic crisis, who’s really to blame, and why government bailouts won’t work. Woods will reveal:
* Which brave few economists predicted the economic fallout–and why nobody listened
* What really caused the collapse
* Why the Fed–not taxpayers–should have to answer for the current economic crisis
* Why bailouts are band-aids that will only provide temporary relief and ultimately make things worse
* What we should do instead, to put our economy on a healthy path to recovery
With a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars True to its subtitle
Thomas Woods wrote an excellent book that’s true to the title of “A Free-Market look at why the stock market collapsed, the economy tanked, and government bailouts will make things worse”. This is probably the ONLY free market look at such being that his book covers the business cycle and the Fed’s responsibility in creating it.
Whenever somebody tries to talk to me about economics I always initially ask them what school of thought they subscribe to. While mostly I get a response of “Huh?!” if you get the responses back of “Keynesian” you don’t listen to them. If you get back “Marxian” you don’t listen to them. If you get back “Chicago [monetarist]” you still don’t listen to them since they’re proponents of government control of the money supply, but if they say “Austrian” then you absolutely listen to them about economics.
5 Stars This will keep you awake!
The Wealth of Nations is great, but not for late nite reading.
If you want it in a nutshell and be entertained in the meantime, then try this book. Good verbal illustrations which make economics easier than playing in the mud.
1 Star All you need is CNN or Fox for the educating yourself on finances.
Everyone and their mother is a backseat economist these days. The fact is… the average American is the reason for this economic collapse. Politicians and bankers care about the American people, but they get no respect in return. Companies like AIG deserve bailouts… they spend that money on good things like bonuses and building new offices with $130,000 carpet!
For ways to enlighten and educate yourself on political issues and economics watch CNN or listen to Rush Limbaugh.
5 Stars Excellent and very readable synopsis
This is very concise and readable and yet fully explains the basics of economics and government spending and intrusion. I am somewhat new to this topic and had no trouble following the arguments. I only wish that we could get every member of Congress and the Executive Office to read it.
5 Stars Review of “Meltdown” by Thomas Woods Jr
One nice thing about books like this is that they teach you things you will likely never hear on TV or even most sites on the internet. If you listen to our leaders in Washington DC, you would think that they possess some kind of magical, divine inspiration that can solve all our problems. The truth however, appears to be that those in Washington DC are most likely the CAUSES of many of our problems, particularly in the financial arena.
I liked the way Mr Woods wrote in terms that I could understand. I am not a CPA or PhD in economics, but I did get a little of it as an undergraduate. Did you know, for example, that we had a fairly serious depression from 1920-1921 that we “solved” in about a year, *without* help from the government? Did you know how “money” got started? Do you believe that FDR’s government programs were the solution to the Great Depression? If you do, this book will surprise you!
If you’re a Keynesian economics person, and you feel that the Federal government truly wants to help all of us and actually *knows* the solution to our problems, then you may have a tough time accepting what Mr Woods has to say. That’s the nature of economics: people develop different opinions about what should or should not be done.
Anyway, I enjoyed the book and I think 95-99% of Amazon’s readers will also. Two thumbs way up!
Tap Tap
As they did in Galimoto , Williams and Stock here bring a cultural tradition to life for young readers. The setting is Haiti, zestfully rendered in Stock’s brightly hued watercolors. Sasifi carries a basket on her head for the first time as she walks to market with Mama. Tired and hot, the girl longingly watches a passing tap-tap–a covered, festively painted pickup truck carrying marketgoers and their goods. Announcing they do not have enough money to ride the tap-tap, Mama curtly says, “Perhaps you are not yet big enough to help me on market day.” Sasifi proves otherwise, competently selling all of their oranges–and collecting the correct amount of money–while Mama goes off to do her marketing. Her reward is her very first “fine new hat”–and some coins to buy herself a treat. The spirited child passes up the tempting goodies of the bustling marketplace for a ride home in the tap-tap. Children (even those younger than the intended audience) will enjoy the rollicking ride almost as much as Sasifi herself–who learns to “tap-tap” on the truck’s side when she wants it to stop. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Great book for kids!
I do medical missions in Haiti and found this book to be colorful and a good way for children in the US to learn a bit about what life in Haiti is like.
5 Stars Adopting from Haiti
This book gives a great view of a day in Haiti. I’m excited to share it with my Haitian Daughter.
4 Stars Sweet but not sugar-coated
This is a sweet little book. The illustrations are beautiful watercolors with lots of detail that will appeal to young inquisitive eyes. (I know because I tested it on my favorite three year old.) The story is a simple one of a trip to market and a more interesting trip back to the village. A story of wanting, of responsibility, and of reward. I think books that share even a glimpse of another culture to our American children are very valuable. This book could raise many important questions in children who have no concept of being so poor you must walk everywhere you go. It offers that glimpse without being harsh in anyway. As I said, its sweet and yet one notices our main characters have no shoes for their feet. The writing is beautiful and reads well out loud. It is a simple enough story that most third graders can read it for themselves. Its also informative for adults. Now I know why the Haitian jitney is called a Tap-Tap. Tap-Tap gets a high recommendation.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds Vol 1 and 2
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds Vol 1 and 2
Financier Bernard Baruch credited the lessons he learned from Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds with his decision to sell all his stock ahead of the financial crash of 1929.
Financial writer Michael Lewis includes the financial mania chapters in his book The Price of Everything as one of the six great works of economics, along with writings by Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, Thorstein Veblen, and John Maynard Keynes.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a popular history of popular folly by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. The book chronicles its targets in three parts: “National Delusions”, “Peculiar Follies”, and “Philosophical Delusions”.
We all remember the Dot Com boom and bust of the 2001 but did you know the same thing happened in Holland with tulips in 1637. Among the financial manias described by Mackay is the Dutch tulip mania of the early seventeenth century. Tulip mania started in 1637 when tulips and tulip bulbs suddenly became fashionable in Holland. Everyone who was anyone had to own tulip bulbs The price of the bulbs went from a few coins and went up and up. Every one scrambled to own tulips the price soared until on tulip bulb was worth the price of a mansion. And then suddenly overnight the price dropped to nothing.
Option Screening Finding Profitable Trades DVD with Lawrence Cavanagh
Option Screening Finding Profitable Trades DVD with Lawrence Cavanagh
Hedge your risk and reap healthy returns with option spreads, no matter how the market performs! Drawing on his years of experience as a well-known options expert, Lawrence Cavanagh teaches you how to successfully employ a variety of profit-enhancing option spread techniques. Protect yourself against the uncertainties of the markets by understanding how to use volatility to your advantage. Focusing on the impact of volatility in both option pricing and spread valuation, Cavanagh walks you step-by-step through the process of security selection and option screening. This worthwhile session provides you with in-depth analysis and professional advice on:
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Meltdown A Free Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things WorseMeltdown A Free Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed the Economy Tanked and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse ...
