Aftermath: Seven Secrets of Wealth Preservation in the Coming Chaos

12-7-2019 I HAVE READ ALL OF JAMES RICKARDS BOOKS. THIS LAST ONE WHICH I HAVE JUST FINISHED READING, "AFTERMATH" IS THE BEST OF ALL. RICKARDS DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB OF EXPLAINING WHAT HAS HAPPENED, ESPECIALLY AS REGARDS TO THE CRASH OF 2008, AND WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE ECONOMY TODAY, 12-2019, AND WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN ECONOMICALLY TO THE COUNTRY AND WORLD IN 2020 AND OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS. THIS BOOK IS DEFINATELY NOT A "DOOM AND GLOOM" BOOK. IT IS A REALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF WHERE WE HAVE BEEN ECONOMICALLY AND WHERE WE ARE HEADED. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN DO TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. IF YOU ARE RICH I SUPPOSE YOU CAN BUY GOLD, TREASURY BONDS, ETC. BUT FOR THE AVERAGE NON-ELITE - THERE ISN'T MUCH YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF OTHER THAN GET OUT OF DEBT AND STAY OUT OF DEBT. IN THAT REGARD, FOR THE "LITTLE PEOPLE" DAVE RAMSEY OFFERS BETTER ADVICE THAN JAMES RICKARDS BOOK "AFTERMATH." BUT IT IS TRUE THAT "OPPORTUNITY FAVORS THE PREPARED." IN THIS REGARDS, AFTERMATH DOES A GREAT JOB IN GETTING YOU PREPARED FOR WHAT IS MOST CERTAINLY GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMY. IT'S BETTER TO KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING THAN TO PUT YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND. ONE THING FOR SURE, RICKARDS BOOK DEFINATELY SHOWS YOU HOW THE ELITE OF THIS COUNTRY, THE SUPER RICH AND THE POLITICAL CLASS DON'T GIVE A DAMM ABOUT THE ORDINARY WORKING MAN IN THIS COUNTRY, AND THAT THE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL SYSTEM IS A LIE AND RIGGED AGAINST THE COMMON PERSON; THAT TO VOTE IS A WASTE OF TIME, THAT THE "AMERICAN DREAM" IS A FRAUD THAT THE ELITE WANT YOU TO PERSUE BY GOING INTO A LIFE-TIME OF DEBT AND PEONAGE TO THE BANKERS OF THIS WORLD. 90% OF THE BOOK IS AN EYE OPENER ON HOW THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS IS BEING SWINDLED BY THE ELITE, THE SUPER RICH, THE BANKERS AND THE GOVERNMENT. THE LAST FEW CHAPTERS DEAL WITH "WEALTH PRESERVATION" WHICH DOESN'T REALLY APPLY TO THE 99%. AT ANY RATE, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED IF YOU BUY THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT IS A REAL EDUCATION INTO THE REALITY OF WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING ECONOMICALLY TO THE VAST MAJORITY OF PEOPLE IN THIS ONCE GREAT COUNTRY.

This is Jim Rickards final - and probably the best - of his quartet series. It contains his assessment of current capital market concerns, and the resulting storm he suspects will unfold. I hope he’s wrong - but I think he’s probably right. In all of Rickards books you’ll find detailed explanations on complex financial matters. I particularly appreciate his insights on relative geopolitical elements - and he’s bluntly factual when assessing the financial impact of politics in our divided nation. Like David and the slingshot, Rickards doesn’t mind popping giants right between the eyes, regardless of their political party or elite world status. In this book I found it helpful to read the conclusion chapter first, getting a sense of where he might be going with the “Aftermath” theme. “Mandibles Redux” in that chapter was appreciated by this reader; Rickards is a better writer than Lionel Shriver, in my opinion. If I had not already digested the three earlier books, I wouldn’t have gotten the full value of this book. If you’ve not read them, I recommend you at least read his “Currency Wars” and “The Death of Money” before this one... please keep in mind the year each was written, tho. “The Case for Gold” is the other quartet book. Mr. Rickards’ investment advice in this book is general, cautious and intended to be beneficial to the reader - he seems to have written it in such a way as to ensure you will not over-react; its not “ alarmist.” Rickards wisely points the reader in a clear, helpful direction, encouraging you to make a few simple changes so the storm doesn’t hurt you as badly as it potentially could. He wants the reader to understand the forces in play right now that could crumble capital markets. Knowledge is power.

In 2019 we are in the depths of the longest economic expansion in US history, stocks are at all time highs, investors are funneling money into the market as if positive returns are a sure thing. It should be no secret that investors have been consumed by euphoria and the Fed is on standby ready to feed the fire. Despite the current economic expansion being the longest in history, it has been an expansion of disappointing growth and a loss of prosperity for the average American. In this book, Rickard's shines a light on the structural issues facing the US economy, and he does so in an eloquent, easy to read fashion. I have been an avid reader of Rickard's work since the release of his first book, and I'm quite pleased to add Aftermath to my bookshelf.

I found the book interesting and easy to read. It gives some interesting details about geopolitical economics, such as identifying the evidence that China is running a Ponzi Scheme. Of course, the Fed is running a Ponzi as well, but China is more secretive about it. How the clash between two Ponzis will someday turn out, no one can predict. The theme of this book is to be prepared for numerous alternate economic eventualities, without being too specific about which will materialize. As for predictions, it is relatively easy to make certain economic predictions; the hard part is identifying WHEN such events will occur. The book does not do much predicting of WHEN, which is to its credit. What I disliked the most was the book's overuse of metaphors.

This is an interesting book to read. I like how the author intertwines his personal stories into something complicated that he is trying to explain. I liked the first two chapters but then struggled a bit in the chapter where MMT is explained and there are a lot of references to related work. In my opinion, there book became a bit academic. But otherwise, mostly it is a good read, especially for a layman. Though I am not able to decide that is this book better than currency war.

It is not often that I read a book on this topic that addresses so many complexities behind the issues it discusses. I felt that Rickards did an excellent job covering so many aspects of wealth preservation while still keeping it interesting. I've read all of Rickards books and Aftermath is easily my favorite. Americans need to take his writings and warnings seriously and learn how to protect themselves from the financial perils that await! Thank you Jim for another home run!

His worst book to date. His chapter on the monetary reset was all about the IMF. Those people are unelected and a gold standard by which gold is pegged to the SDR and regular people never see the gold is a pure elitist gold standard. Also no mention of silver being used as money in the next monetary reset. Jim’s gold standard is by the elite and for the elite. That’s not the kind of gold standard that we need. I would suggest reading the works of Professor Antal Fekete instead and his description of what a real unadulterated gold and silver standard should look like.

Jim has never failed me. I love his wisdoms and am looking forward to his next book. It took me some times to finishing this but that doesn’t mean this book is not important. In contrary, this book is important and provides many sign posts for things to come and we need to know to be prepared and nimble. Great book and highly recommended from me