Rating: 
Summary: Excellent synopsis, but beware the typos!
Review: Much of this book is peppered with interesting historical tidbits. I found it excellently written, well organized, and most importantly, right on the money. But... BEWARE!!! There are a number of typos, including various important numbers quoted. Given the skill of the writers I put the blame on the editor/typesetter/proofreader but not the authors. Check all the numbers before allowing them to sink in. One reviewer gave this book just one star, complete with malice. It will be fun to see that moron go bankrupt.
Rating: 
Summary: An Idiot's Guide To Self-Important Blather
Review: If the fact that these two men write in a heavy-handed, tedious and self-important style were the only problems with this tome that might be acceptable.
After all, many excruciatingly bad writers have valid messages to share.
That is not the case here.
Chief among Bonner/Wiggin's sins is their failure to prove that their smug, contrarian views are righteous ones. Or that we should even care what they think.
Contrary to their posing, They are, in fact, not contrarians.
Bonner and Wiggin are simply garden-variety complainers of the same ilk that you find in the local taverns of mill towns.
Save your money. If you crave this sort of self-centered drivel drop into a bar in the working class section of your town. But, be careful. Chances are that you'll meet someone there whose ideas are far more well formed, and far better stated, than Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin.
Rating: 
Summary: Understanding the downside and preparing options
Review: In the era of "It ain't broke, don't fix it!" we followed the tech stock bubble with irrational exhuberance and invaded Iraq without a specific or effective plan to keep the peace. The authors here recognize the dangers of optimism when high financial risk is involved and offer us an opportunity to explore our options. I agree with most of the issues raised in this book and recommend it highly as a starting point for contingency planning. I recommend another first-rate book, Optimal Thinking (John Wiley & Sons, 2002) to give you an understanding of the dangers of optimistic thinking and to provide a simple fail-safe thinking procedure for good and tough times.
Rating:
Summary: Must read for every investor. This is not a crank book!
Review: Unlike a lot of other doom and gloom books, this title does a great job of just laying out the history of previous financial fiascos (which like all history, is bound to be repeated). The authors do not try to sell you anything and do not preach the end of the world. You are getting solid documented facts that will allow you to make your own choices. This is well written, concise, and a fast read. It is shame that basic history like this is not taught in our schools today. Jim Rogers from Worth Magazine fame writes the forward.
Rating:
Summary: financial reckoning day
Review: A pseudo-intellectual writes about psuedo-nothingness while reminding us of a few obvious truisms. Don't let the title suck you in.
Rating: 
Summary: getting out the good word
Review: Yes, maybe some reviewers here are involved in markets, and sophisticated enough to know what's going on here. But what of the unsuspecting novice who got burned in the stock bubble? What about the non-pro who thinks bonds will automatically be a safe alternative? This was another one paired as a "double" with John Soltez's "Only in America" which is a reckoning of a fictional kind. Maybe the host is trying to tell us something? It doesn't hurt to read about these future possibilities -- especially if you had no clue to begin with.
Rating: 
Summary: The Sky is Falling... Maybe
Review: I felt compelled to make a comment beacuse the pre-release hype was quite grand. Two stars, one for research and one for writing style. The book attempts to offer suggestions of what "ought to be". Once more we are to take financial cover in gold because we have too much debt, too little savings and not enough time to save for retirement which, means we sell equities to begin a fixed income savings program. But we can't save US$ because all paper money is eventually worthless. After 300+ pages I was left with a "so what" feeling. Once more, another book without a viable solution save for total economic collapse. The chapter on "crowd behaivior" was a real challenge to get though. Apparently, all humans not in the authors camp are part of the crowd. Come on people. Are we to believe that the US$ is about to become worthless (or grossly depreciated) yet the authors are willing to accept them as book royalty payments, the more the better. Do we buy pick-up trucks to haul around stacks of currency and bricks of gold & silver? Maybe... but certainly not for certain. This book makes some very good points but readers of investment books have read and have known for many years that economic conditions are far from perfect but the reality is that the alternatives are no less superior. The baby boomers are aging, that is a fact. We will all save more and spend less, a fact. We will need more income and put more demands on healthcare and social services. Will pensions and social security collapse, maybe. But just knowing that leads to solutions. Can the stock market collapse, any day, the principle of paper equity ownership is identical to the paper US$. They both trade only as long as someone else wants them. Maybe soon no one wants either. But for the record, Merrill Lynch will not allow IRAs to hold gold bullion or direct ownership of foreign currencies. Should be fun. Quite underwhelmed, hopefully the authors enjoy my depreciating US$ in France.
Rating:
Summary: The best financial book I've read in years
Review: This author is the smartest financial expert/author I have come across in the last three years. His logic is compelling. I recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Shrewd Common Sense!
Review: Reading this book is to turn on the spigot, the information and common sense flows freely. The first chapter describes the technology bubble of the 90's and the many hustlers associated with it. Chapter two reviews many of the blunders people have made over the years, Bonner and Wiggin along the way state that mistakes are inevitable and are often repeated. People are sometimes prone to self destruction, and he gives many examples. The third chapter covers John Law and the origins of paper money, the beginning of fiat currency and rampant speculation. The fourth chapter focuses on Japan and the financial bubble that took place there, and it's consequences. The fifth chapter covers the legacy of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (not a rosy picture) and the lack of a gold standard in today's international trade balances, which is discussed throughout the book. The sixth chapter illustrates how mob behavior influences individual thinking, and how it is not always rational, and how democracy fits into all of this, how we are not as free as we think we are, this part is a 'must' read. Chapter seven introduces the 'hard' reality of demographics and why aging populations many times spell doom for economies. Chapter eight deals with the economic mess the United States is currently in, one of our own making. Chapter nine, the last chapter, reviews and condenses the major points of the book. Along the way Bonner and Wiggin laments the current phase of 'empire building' the United States is currently in, saying empires eventually end badly, a point that should be taken by our leaders in Washington, D.C.. Also, the authors state many times that when things get out of hand and financial bubbles form, people nearly always get what they deserve. The internet bubble popped in the United States already, the current consumer credit and real estate bubbles are still going strong, when and if they will pop the authors only say they "ought" to. This is an excellent book for investors of all kinds to read, even for people just interested in our economy. To those people who believe that the 'buy and hold' stategy for stock ownership is the best way to make money in the stock market, and they anticipate making back the loses that they may have incurred over that last three years, they may be very mistaken.
Rating:
Summary: Good Social and Historical Discussion
Review: This book is more a social and historical discussion than a financial discussion. While I agree with most of the social commentary, I'd have liked to seen more facts and financial comparisons on a macro level. I found little in the book to help my short term forecasting of equity and bond prices, and as for long term forecasting, most of the arguments have applied since 1970 just to a lesser extent. The best part of the book for me, and what made it worth far more than the cost was the discussion of "The Hard Math of Demography". This lays out what the expected results of a younger and older demographic population are, from a financial and military point of view. Although Japan has had a far greater percentage change in population than the US and is thus a more extreme case, the macro economic case made for decreased consumption appeared to be a possible outcome.
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