Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy - And What We Can Do about It - Hardcover

by Steve Forbes (Author), Elizabeth Ames (Author)

***Updated content to coincide with the public television documentary, In Money We Trust***Why a return to sound money is our only hope for a true recovery and a healthy global economy

Few topics are as misunderstood today as the subject of money. Since the U.S. abandoned a gold-linked dollar more than four decades ago, the world's governments have slid into a dangerous ignorance of the fundamental monetary principles that guided the world's most successful economies for centuries. Today's wrong-headed monetary policies are now setting the stage for a new global economic and social catastrophe that could rival the recent financial crisis and even the horrors of the 1930s. Coauthored by Steve Forbes, one of the world's leading experts on finance, Money shows you why that doesn't need to happen--and how to prevent it.

After reading this entertaining and hugely well-informed book, you will know more about money than most people in the highest government positions today. Money explains why a return to sound money is absolutely essential if the U.S. and other nations are ever to overcome today's problems. Stable money, Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames argue, is the only way to a true recovery and a stable and prosperous economy.

Today's system of fluctuating "fiat" money, in which governments manipulate the value of the dollar and other currencies, has been responsible for the biggest economic failures of recent decades, including the 2008 financial crisis, from whose effects we continue to suffer. The Obama/Bernanke/Yellen Federal Reserve and its unstable dollar policies are accelerating our course toward disaster, the authors show, in numerous convincing examples. In Money, Forbes and Ames answer these crucial questions:

What is the difference between money and value?What is real wealth?
How does sound money contribute to a well-functioning society?
How have our money policy errors led to the current problems in global financial markets?
What can we do now to reestablish the strength of the dollar and other currencies?

The authors argue that the most effective way to return to a sound money policy and a healthy economy is to put the dollar back on a gold standard, and they outline the several different forms a gold standard could take. They also share invaluable suggestions for how to preserve our wealth and where to invest our money.

Money is essential reading for anyone interested in this crucially important subject.

Back Jacket

"Money clearly illustrates that sound money is an essential foundation for a free and prosperous society and that the Federal Reserve's current policies are a greater threat to the economic future of the U.S. than government deficit spending. This is an important book well worth reading."
John A. Allison, President and CEO, Cato Institute, and author of the New York Times bestselling The Financial Crisis and the Free Market Cure

"Few topics today are as misunderstood as the subject of money. Steve Forbes understands money better than most heads of state do, and in this provocative book he shares his vast knowledge and gives us sensible and time-tested recommendations for stopping future financial meltdowns."
Lawrence Kudlow, CNBC Senior Contributor

"Economic and monetary policies can be difficult to master for even the savviest politicians. Money effectively communicates these complexities into a cohesive argument for economic recovery and preventing a new financial crisis. Steve Forbes and Elizabeth Ames deliver a gripping read and an intriguing viewpoint on how to get our economy back on track."
Greta Van Susteren, host of On the Record, Fox News Channel

"In this fascinating book, Steve Forbes makes the case for sound money and shows why a money system based on free trade--a system that allows the entrepreneurial dream to flourish--is not just good business; it also makes for a good society. Money is a rock-solid argument for the virtues of capitalism."
John Mackey, Co-founder and Co-CEO, Whole Foods Market; coauthor of the New York Times bestselling Conscious Capitalism

"Forbes and Ames's case can be persuasive, especially on stimulus and inflationary risk."
Publishers Weekly

"Readable and entertaining . . . The closing chapters include helpful recommendations for how readers can preserve their wealth and hopeful suggestions for corrective major reforms that can help maintain current stability, end interest rate manipulation, and restore the nation's economic health. . . . Highly recommended."
Choice

Author Biography

Steve Forbes is Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media. Mr. Forbes writes editorials for each issue of Forbes magazine under the heading of "Fact and Comment." A widely respected economic prognosticator, he is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times. The prize was formerly given by U.S. Steel Corporation to the financial journalist whose economic forecasts for the coming year proved most accurate. In both 1996 and 2000, Mr. Forbes campaigned for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Presidency. He continues to promote a flat tax, medical savings accounts, a new Social Security system for working Americans, parental choice of schools for their children, term limits and a strong national defense. Mr. Forbes' other books include Freedom Manifesto: Why Free Markets are Moral and Big Government Isn't (August 2012), How Capitalism Will Save Us (November 2009), Power Ambition and Flat Tax Revolution (2005), among others.

Elizabeth Ames is a communications executive, speaker and author. She has written two previous books with Steve Forbes, How Capitalism Will Save Us and Freedom Manifesto.

Forbes Media is a media, branding, and technology company that today reaches approximately 75 million people worldwide with its business message through print, digital, TV, conferences, research, social and mobile each month. Publications include Forbes magazine, a leading business magazine with a circulation of more than 900,000 in the U.S. Other publications include Forbes Asia, Forbes Europe, ForbesLife, a luxury lifestyle publication, and Forbes licensee editions published in over 30 countries. Forbes.com, launched in 1996, reaches almost 60 million unique visitors (according to Google Analytics). The company's growth has also been fueled by new brand extensions, including conferences, real estate, education, financial services and technology agreements.