I do my best to stay abreast of all the current economics and business books on the market. And I usually do a pretty decent job of reading the top 10 or so best sellers each year. My latest read is Rickard's book ... Currency Wars. I really like Jim and always stop and listen to him when he's on the air. But, unfortunately, his book is a snore. It failed to pass my nightstand test.
What's my nightstand test? Easy. When I read in the evenings, I'll place the book on my nightstand until it gets read, then it goes on the bookshelf in my office. If a book sits on my nightstand for more than a week, its a loser. Rickard's book has been there for several weeks. It's just not worth reading. And it's likely not going to make it to my bookshelf. More than likely, it is trashcan bound.
So what went wrong? It's boring. It teaches me nothing. It spends far too much time reading like a history text. And the lessons it sums up are well known, don't plow new ground. Besides, I was livid at his explanation of the supposed high level, federal government "war" gaming exercise he participated in. My god, what a colossal waste of taxpayer money. That should have been the lesson he imparted about those pathetic, useless "war" games. The fact that he failed to even address the financial waste these "games" represented, made me lose respect for Jim. Our government pisses away money with ease. And when it happens, our $15 Trillion in debt dictates that we have a duty to rain down criticism. Jim failed on that front.
Currency Wars? Not worth the read. Rotate paper assets into hard assets. Move money into commodity based economies. Short the dollar. Go long gold. But, as always, timing this trade is the trick. With current panic in Europe, and a flood of European wealth flowing into the US, now is not the time. There, you've learned the common sense lessons from this book. No need to waste your $20. Take your spouse to McDonald's. It would be time better spent.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment