getAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes.

This frightening book offers an interesting set of strategies to profit from what the authors see as the imminent collapse of the American currency (and, presumably, economy). It must be said that authors James Turk and John Rubino do not quite succeed in making the case that the economic catastrophe they foresee will happen. For example, they indicate that the value of the U.S. dollar will collapse against other currencies, but then they indicate that these other major currencies will also collapse, leading one to wonder what is collapsing with respect to what. Essentially, they seem to be predicting global hyperinflation, with price levels rising in every country. This scary prospect seems to demand somewhat stronger evidence than provided. However, getAbstract regards the authors' arguments as well worth reading, if only because hyperinflation has occurred in the past and so it is prudent to consider the possibility that it may happen in the future. The authors do a reasonably good job of explaining the various ways an investor might hedge against a dollar collapse by owning gold, precious metals and gold stocks. Turk, who has a Web site that works with a digital gold payment system, is straightforward about having a potential conflict of interest.

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Copyright © 2004 by James Turk and John Rubino

Published by arrangement with Currency Books/Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.