Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy—and What We Can Do About It

Forbes and Ames have previously coauthored books on capitalism (How Capitalism Will Save Us) and freedom (Freedom Manifesto) to pitch free market and libertarian views. Here they take aim at central bank policies that “reflect the political whims of government” and damage markets by “sending false signals.” Alarmed by a “fiat money” system, monetary expansion, and the possible destruction of the dollar, they advocate returning to a gold standard. Only a gold-based currency, they suggest, promises stability and an end to the injurious speculative volatility of the past 40 years. Forbes and Ames’s case can be persuasive, especially on “stimulus” and inflationary risk. Forbes, publisher and former presidential candidate, can deliver a large and enthusiastic audience; his decades-old idea of a flat tax remains popular. Anxious “gold bugs” are likely to eagerly seize the authors’ propositions. But barring apocalyptic events and world economic collapse, reactivating the gold standard remains unlikely in the near future; the Federal Reserve System and sovereign currencies seem here to stay. Forbes and Ames’s solutions will convince few political economists or bankers to change their minds, but they might respond that this is the heart of the problem. [em]Agent: Jim Hornfischer, Hornfischer Literary Management. (June) [/em]